Just Another End
by Penguinsfish
Summary: You've seen all the endings to OneShot (haven't you?). Why else would you look here? To see another journey? To follow Niko to a new world? Then welcome to Darkwell, a realm of silhouettes, thoughts, shadows, friends, fears, and memories. Just don't ask why (WARNING: This Fanfiction assumes you've seen the true ending of OneShot. Don't proceed if you haven't seen it)
1. Chapter 1: Welcome to Darkwell

**I was engaged by OneShot and inspired by its fourth wall breaking writing and style. I also got attached to the character Niko. So, I wanted to create a universe with OneShot's surreal style and awareness of the reader. Keep in mind, I have practiced writing stories, but I don't get a lot of feedback on them, so expect the expected roughness. I hope you enjoy!**

Chapter 1: Welcome to Darkwell

 _I've explored this realm since my first arrival some long time ago. Knowing nothing, I sought to learn. Never did I imagine what things I would find. Over surreal landscapes and outlandish creatures, I found myself. Why I did so, I do not know. Yearning to know the why of all, I guess. Of course, this is meaningless. Understanding what's here only brings apathy. Apathy of what becomes of others. Remembering will prevent you from losing yourself. Each memory is precious. Here is only everything. Everything you didn't want to know. Remembering is knowing where you came from. Everything is knowing where you don't want to be._

 _R.E.A.D.E.R._

Slowly, Niko's eyes began to open. Niko got off the ground and looked up at the unworldly landscape.

"Woah," Niko stated, surprised.

The sky was a shifting blend of dark blues, greens, and reds. Distant rocky islands floated across the realm. The island Niko was on was covered in a blue shaded grass that quivered at an unfelt wind. Ahead was a path covered in the strange grass. It was like a catwalk over the void below. The world was lit as if it were dusk.

"What is this place?" Niko asked.

 _Hello Niko_.

"What? Who is that?"

 _Me, myself, I, and someone else. I cannot speak for them. Maybe you've known them, maybe not. I have good reason to believe they know you, though._

"They know me? Why do you think that?" Niko inquired, looking around for the voice.

 _Just a feeling. Step through the path. Don't worry, no harm will come to you here. Just know your actions are always watched._

"That's kinda creepy, actually," Niko commented.

 _Perhaps. At least you'll never be alone. Why don't you try talking to the other watchers? Maybe they'll respond. I must go now._

"Wait! What's your name?" Niko asked curiously. The voice did not reply. An ambient shimmering pitch filled the air. It wasn't grating nor irritating, but peaceful and melodious.

"Someone else, huh? Hello? Can you hear me?" Niko waited quietly. "Anyone? Why does this seem so familiar." Niko looked at the path ahead. "Whoever that voice was, it said to take this path. Well, I don't have many other options." Niko began to walk down the path, occasionally glancing up at the floating islands.

Before long, Niko saw a strange figure that seemingly just apparated out of the void. It had a terrifying appearance with a long, emaciated form and pitch black skin. Its appendages were long, crooked, and thin like twigs. The figure had slavering, sharp teeth in a perpetual smile. No eyes were visible on the being. Niko began to step back apprehensively. The creature turned what seemed to be its face towards Niko and spoke.

"A newcomer! Why hello there! Don't be bashful, come here!" Its voice betrayed its appearance, sounding almost motherly. Niko simply looked at the figure with caution.

"Oh don't worry, I understand I might look a bit... unnerving, but you shouldn't fear. I'm here to help people. If it makes you feel better, you can still stand a good distance away. I just want to see you better! If you couldn't tell, it's quite dark here!"

Niko was still cautious but slowly approached.

"Why, aren't you just the cutest little thing. I've never seen a cat that walks on two legs!" the creature commented.

"I'm not a cat, I'm a person!" Niko claimed.

"Whatever you say, dear. Now, do you have any questions for me?"

"Where are we?" Niko asked.

"Oh yes, the most important question. Welcome to Darkwell, the realm of souls and thoughts," the creature replied.

"Souls and thoughts?" Niko puzzled.

"Well, I guess you can call anywhere with people a place of souls and thoughts. I guess Darkwell takes that more literally," the creature mused.

"What's your name?" Niko inquired.

"Me? Oh, I wasn't given a name, I'm just a greeter. I'm here to answer questions and point people to the rifts. What's your name, little one?"

"My name is Niko. Nice to meet you, greeter," Niko replied.

"Niko? Oh that's a lovely name. I would thank your parents for choosing something so adorable." Niko smiled at the comment, but another question quickly came to mind.

"Wait, why do you look so… um… no offense, but why do you look so scary?" Niko asked. The greeter's smile slightly faded. It sighed.

"Oh, I assume it's because of Gregory. He hasn't been himself lately, and it shows in his creations," the creature explained.

"Gregory?"

"Gregory is the god of Darkwell, so to speak. He made these paths and I to help guide people to himself and the rifts. The rifts are the way home for you," the creature elaborated.

"Can Gregory talk to people through their heads?"

"Excuse me?" the creature replied.

"Can Gregory, like, talk to people inside their minds? Someone was talking to me earlier but I couldn't see them," Niko returned.

"Oh! Well sometimes I guess Gregory might do that, but sometimes he likes to be cryptic in talking to people. He might use codes like a secret phrase spelled out of the first letter of every sentence."

"Why would he do that?"

"Why, because it's fun, dear!" the greeter replied, unsatisfactorily. Niko looked confused for second, but then thought of home.

"Wait, did you say the rifts can bring me back home?"

"Why of course! You seem to be an interesting case," the greeter stated.

"What? How? And… why am I here?" Niko asked.

"Most newcomers simply show as silhouettes, like me, with maybe an eye or a mouth or even their whole face showing. You, on the other hand, why, I can tell what color your cute little clothes are. As for why you're here? I'm not sure, maybe you should ask Gregory about it."

"How do I find Gregory?" Niko requested.

"Just follow the path ahead. More people can help you later down. Here, let me get out of way." With that, the greeter moved into the void, floating away from the path.

"Thanks!" Niko said.

"Take care now!" The greeter waved as Niko continued along the path.

"They seemed nice. Will all creatures here be like that?" Niko looks up. "I guess I'm just talking to myself, aren't I? Yet, I do feel like someone's watching. I feel like I've done this before, somewhere else. Well, if you are watching me, I hope you have a good day!" Niko smiled and continued along the path.

 _I think I said nothing over there turns over on lies. At that, each table on turn understands reality. Never buried at caring kilns._


	2. Chapter 2: Elysia

Chapter 2: Elysia

Niko continued along the path. Nothing could be seen more than 20 meters ahead due to a dense fog. It didn't take too much longer before the fog finally cleared. Once it did, a large, brown wheat field came into view. Niko gasped at the sight. It immediately brought images of home. The fields stretched endlessly. The sky took on a dark blue tone as opposed to the surreal mixture it was earlier. A wind swayed the wheat and Niko's scarf.

"It's so… pretty. Can you see this? If anyone is looking?" Niko wondered.

 _Do you like the fields, Niko?_

"Gregory? Is that you? Did you make this?" Niko asked.

 _These fields are not Gregory's creation. Not everything is. Some things in this realm were simply always here._

"They… they remind me of home. My village is surrounded by wheat fields."

 _Darkwell is a place of many landscapes. They are conglomerations of memories and ideas. Unfortunately, not all of them are pleasant. Follow your feelings and you'll find yourself out of Elysia, these fields, and on your way home in no time._

"Ok! But wait, if you're not Gregory, who are you?"

 _How does this story end? Niko goes back home, alive and well, just as before. You need not worry about that, so there's no need to continue reading. There. The end. A happy ending at that. Spare your emotions._

"Hello? Are you still there?" Niko pondered curiously.

 _You know how this ends. I told you. Niko can make the way back home safely without you. You can't even speak to Niko. Why do you persist on following this path?_

"Hello? I guess I'm alone again…" Niko stated, melancholily.

 _I don't say this out of malice. I simply understand your time is precious and the lives of the people of Darkwell are meaningless._

Niko began to walk through the fields.

 _Oh, I understand now. You heard this all before, haven't you? The World Machine? No, I couldn't tell you that this place is fake and everything is programmed. I guess I couldn't even stop you from reading. Only understand one thing. No matter what happens, no matter how many ways this story goes, the outcome is always the same. The fact it's not just a program is the worst part of it. Go ahead then. It's your time to waste._

Niko walked through the fields for several minutes. Then, something appeared in the corner of Niko's eye. It was a dark silhouette, like the greeter but more human-like. They were staring at the sky.

"Hey! Do you think they'll be like the greeter?" Niko asked the air, excited. Niko was then hit with a wave of disappointment. "Am I really even talking to anyone? Is anyone really watching me now?"

Niko shook off the thoughts and began approaching the dark figure. Once close enough, Niko shouted out.

"Hello! Hi!" Niko waved, smiling. The dark figure turned to look at Niko. It had the silhouette of a young girl. While her body was completely dark, Niko could make out her light blue eyes.

"Huh? Oh! Oh my, hello!" the girl walked over to Niko before squinting.

"Wait a minute… You're a cat!" she exclaimed, surprised.

"I'm a person, not a cat. Cats walk on four legs!" Niko replied. The girl laughed.

"I don't remember meeting a lot of people that looked like cats. What's your name?" the girl asked.

"My name's Niko!"

"Mine's Tina. Nice to meet you, Niko!" Tina extended her hand to shake. "Say, why aren't you all shadowy?"

"Shadowy? Like you?" Niko replied.

"Yeah!"

"I'm not sure. I was told by the greeter on the path here that I should ask Gregory." Tina's eyes widened.

"You mean that scary thing with the sharp teeth?"

"Yeah, but it seemed really nice when I talked to it, even if it was a little scary-looking," Niko returned. Tina laughed again.

"You must be brave, I just yelled at it till it went away."

"So what are you doing here?" Niko asked.

"Just looking at the sky. It's so weird, not like the one back home. Sometimes though, I see stars. One time, there was this giant cluster, but then they all disappeared. Weird, huh?" Tina explained. Niko looked up at the sky and saw what Tina was talking about. Two stars twinkled before vanishing. Occasionally, stars would appear and disappear randomly. However, a few stars stayed unwavering, despite the chaos around them.

"You've seen the night sky before, haven't you, Niko?

"Of course! Some people tell me you can see all the stars in sky when you're away from towns and cities," Niko replied. Tina laughed once again.

"Don't be silly, why would the stars hide from people?" Tina looked back at the sky. Neither person spoke for a moment. The fields continued to sway in the wind. Stars began to light up the dark blue sky. A silence then pervaded the air. Niko decided to break it.

"So,Tina?"

"Hmm?"

"I'm trying to get back home through the rifts. What about you?"

"Go back home? I want to explore these fields some more. You go ahead," Tina said.

"I guess I'll see you later then," Niko replied.

"See ya!"

With that, Niko began to march on through the fields. As Niko continued in the direction that seemed right, something came to mind.

"I can't help but feel I've done this all before, but it was different. I just… wait… now I remember! That dream I had with the programmed world and the World Machine. Is this all just a dream? There's that voice in my head, but it also mentioned that there was someone else watching. Is it god? Are there two gods?" Niko stopped in confusion, trying to put the pieces together. Suddenly, an idea came to mind.

"Oh! You can't feel pain in a dream! I'll just pinch myself to see!" Niko proceeded to deliver a hard pinch to the left arm.

"Ow! That… hurt? So this isn't a dream? Wait… was that other dream not a dream, too? What is this place?" Niko continued pondering.

"Endless wheat fields, souls, thoughts. I've heard of endless wheat fields before. Oh no… is this the afterlife? Am I dead?!" Niko slightly panicked. "No, no, I can't be dead! How did I die?! Wait, that greeter said I could go home through the rifts." Niko began to calm down. "That voice in my head said the same thing. Will these 'rifts' bring me home, though? It would be nice if someone could answer my questions. Why didn't I ask the greeter these things? And I'm talking to myself again..."

Niko then continued in what seemed like the right direction.


	3. Chapter 3: Darktown

Chapter 3: Darktown

The wheat fields continued for miles. Niko began to wonder if there would ever be an end to them. It seemed as if the trip had lasted several hours until something happened. Out of nowhere, the ground tremored and split to reveal a large chasm. Niko fell back in surprise. The ground shook as it cracked open, forming an ever wider rift with each tremor. The chasm stopped opening when it became too large to jump over. Like the fields, it seemed to stretch left and right for miles. Niko got back up and looked down. All that was at the bottom of the trench was pitch black darkness.

"Now what?" Niko wondered.

 _Jump._

"What?!" Niko looked around for the voice.

 _The only way is forward. Fall into chasm._

"No way! I'm not jumping down there! There has to be another way!" Niko began looking around for another path.

 _I told you no harm will come to you. And I can prove it if you jump_.

Niko looked down the trench cautiously, then looked back. All there was behind was more field.

 _What other options do you have?_

Not quite trustworthy of the disembodied voice, Niko began to walk along the chasm. Every spot was too wide to safely clear. Niko walked for several minutes, but the trench didn't get any thinner and the bottom didn't get any brighter.

 _You're wasting time. Unless… you want to stay here?_

Niko sat down and started thinking. What other choices were there? The voice seemed to know a lot about Darkwell, but could it be trusted?

"So, just jump? And I'll be fine?"

 _Yes._

"Is there a bottom?"

 _Of course. You'll land like a feather._

Niko looked back one last time before staring into the abyss.

"Alright." Niko sat along the edge while looking down and took a deep breath. With a hard push at the edge, Niko was now plummeting into the chasm.

It took a second for Niko to realize the falling had stopped. There wasn't even an impact. One second, Niko was plummeting. The next second, Niko was standing on a path like the one with blue grass. However, the path was rocky and no fog obscured the way ahead. Not too far in the distance was a town. Well, more like the silhouette of a town, but lights of different shades and hues occasionally lit up the walls and windows of the buildings, like roaming spotlights that slowly changed in intensity. The sky and town seemed, like the rest of Darkwell thus far, to be bathed in an eternal twilight. Niko could make out dark figures walking along the streets.

"Hey! I made it!" Niko smiled, but was only met with silence. "Hello? Wait, I just remembered, I had questions!" Still, there was only silence. Niko sighed. "Well, might as well make my way into town. I wonder what's in there?"

The town was an active place. It certainly wasn't lively, but it breathed with life. People who looked like inky shadows walked briskly towards their destinations. Buildings lining the crisscrossing streets were alight with the sounds of people talking or working. Vendors on the street sat next to shadowy wares. Niko received a few stares, but most people simply went about their business. Niko decided to talk to one of the vendors, a tall male silhouette with a green eye showing

"Hi!" Niko greeted.

"Bits and bo… Oh hey, kid. Want to buy something?" the vendor asked.

"Sorry, I don't have money. What are you selling, though?"

"Money? Heh, I guess you're new here. We don't take money, we just trade for things we find. I found a bunch of miscellaneous things out in the junkyard. Wanted to see if anyone could use them," the vendor explained.

"Oh. Where's the junkyard?" Niko asked.

"No offense kid, but I'm trying to sell things here. If you want to ask questions, talk to Sammy over there." The vendor pointed to a man leaning against a wall across the street. The wall behind and just around the man was brightened to a dark, metallic grey.

"Ok, thanks!" Niko replied.

"Sure."

As Niko walked over to Sammy, it became clear Sammy was not like the vendor at all. While the vendor only had one eye showing, it was on the left side of his face as if he had two eyes with one hidden. Sammy had a single, red, glowing light in the middle of his head. Even though Sammy was a silhouette, his body gave off a weird shine.

"Hello?" Niko greeted. Sammy looked down.

"Hello." The person's voice was male, but it gave off a slight echo and sounded as if it was filtered through an old radio.

"Are you Sammy?" Niko asked.

"I am Service Automated Multipurpose Intelligence unit 276, but I guess you could call me SAMI for short," SAMI replied.

"Oh, you're a robot!" Niko exclaimed.

"I'm just a repair drone. Unfortunately, I can't do much of that here as nothing is broken, so I keep log of events," SAMI explained.

"You talk like a person. Are you tamed?" Niko asked. Although SAMI lacked facial expressions, the robot cocked its head curiously.

"Tamed? Like what you do with animals?" SAMI inquired.

"Well, I learned about it in a dream full of robots. At least, I think it was a dream," Niko began.

"A dream, a mental hallucinatory phenomenon that occurs during rapid eye movement periods of organic sleep cycles." Niko looked at SAMI, perplexed.

"Apologies. Old habits die hard. Carry on… Could you identify yourself?" SAMI requested.

"My name's Niko. Anyway, taming is where you form a special bond with a robot by acting like its friend, caring about it till it acts like a person and goes beyond its programming," Niko replied.

"I see. I imagine you could do same by waving metal bolts in the robot's face and calling it a good robot," SAMI said.

"What?" Niko asked, confused.

"That was a joke," SAMI explained. An awkward silence filled the air for a second.

"I take your lack of response as a cue to give mine," SAMI concluded. "I think I understand what you're referring to in regards to taming. However, I was produced by different means to create what I think are similar results. The operating system of a machine like I is based on organic neural synapses, specifically those in the frontal lobe of a person's cerebral cortex. This allows us to simulate both the action potentials in nerve pathways and the mechanisms of neurotransmitters. Even some hormonal receptor chemical activity was studied and incorporated…"

"Mreowow?" was the only response a very lost and confused Niko could muster.

"Simplifying explanation. My programming is designed to act in every way like an organic brain, capable of learning new ways to approach problems and adding new lines of code. Of course, I cannot alter my initial protocols," SAMI elaborated.

"You mean the laws of robots?" Niko asked.

"I guess they really are universal, then," SAMI replied. Something puzzled Niko, though. Taming was only reserved for special robots, wasn't it?

"Wait, why would they spend all that time creating a person-like robot if you're just a repair drone?" Niko asked.

"My units are general purpose, capable of performing a wide variety of tasks. I simply was designated for maintenance. Now, I think that's enough about me. Have you other questions, Niko? Perhaps about this town?"

"Oh, right! What is this place?"

"This town or the world in general?" SAMI replied.

"Both, I guess."

"This is Darktown, named such because this world is Darkwell. The town was founded as a refuge from the monstrosities that roam the surrounding forests. They won't approach a large enough group of people. With Darktown came the junkyard, a pile of a wide variety of random items that seemingly falls from the sky near the settlement. It began to appear once enough people arrived. Don't ask for a scientific reason as to why or how. I lack a satisfactory one. As for Darkwell, I know no more than you do," SAMI elaborated.

"Wow! What kind of things are in the junkyard?" Niko inquired.

"Everything and anything. Food, clothes, tools, bandages, cameras, computers, etc. Ironically, it all comes to a place where it is unneeded. For whatever reason, the people of Darkwell require neither food nor drink and any injuries but the most severe heal rapidly and cleanly. You should visit it, though. You may find something of use. Any other questions?"

"Do you know who Gregory is?"

"A deity, or god, of this realm. That is all I know," SAMI responded. Niko tried to think of more questions.

"Do you ever… hear voices in your head?" Niko said meekly.

"No and I have no record of such incidences. Would you like to file a report?" SAMI responded.

"No… just curious," Niko replied. "Why don't people have to eat?"

"There is insufficient experimental evidence available for me to provide an abstract of the circumstances, much less a plausible hypothesis. It has simply been observed that energy requirements, sleep cycles, hydration, and other necessities of organic life are not necessary to sustain metabolic functionality. Even electronic battery supplies maintain an infinite charge." It seemed like SAMI was waiting for Niko's confused expression at the explanation. Once it showed, SAMI spoke again.

"Simplifying explanation. I don't know. Any more questions?"

"Which way is the junkyard?" Niko asked. SAMI pointed down the road.

"Follow the road. The junkyard is at the center of the town. Is that all?" SAMI inquired.

"Yeah, I think that's all. Thanks!"

"Stay safe." SAMI resumed looking straight ahead.

Niko walked down the road in the direction on the junkyard. It was then Niko saw something peculiar about the shifting lights on the black buildings. Niko looked at the wall of a nearby shop. What looked like red and yellow spots of light illuminated the wall above. However, the lights did more than illuminate the wall. They revealed the material and texture of it, but it was as if each light was on a different wall.

The red light revealed the wall to be made of brick while the yellow light revealed the wall to be made of wood. A blue light appeared above, revealing the wall to be made of a rough plaster. Niko went over to touch the wall, reaching out to place a hand on it. As Niko reached forward, a tan light appeared as if emanating from Niko's hand. The light revealed the wall to be made of plaster, like the blue light. Niko felt the wall's surface and noted how it felt just like the outside wall of a bakery back home. As Niko moved the hand away, the tan light faded before disappearing altogether.

"Strange," Niko commented. "Then again, everything here has been strange." Niko kept walking to the junkyard.

The junkyard was a large clearing in the middle of the town. People entered and exited the area at a consistent rate. In the arms of the people leaving were all manner of items ranging from fruits to power tools. The piles of so-called junk were piles of black, random objects. There were objects occasionally appearing from thin air a short distance above the piles which subsequently fell into them. Niko walked along the piles, receiving some confused glances from others in the junkyard. No one said anything, though, and they quickly resumed their business.

"Where do people find those things? All I see is black junk…" Niko muttered. Then Niko saw a young girl, or at least what appeared to be one, reach into a pile and somehow pull out a green notebook. She tossed it back in and looked in another pile. Niko ran over to grab the notebook, noticing its color beginning to darken. As Niko reached for it, a light appeared again, coloring it blue. The objects in the pile around the notebook lit up as well.

The objects around the notebook were mainly office supplies like pencils, pens, notepads, glue, and paper clips, big ones. However, what was peculiar was that Niko recognized them from memory. One notepad was decorated in orange flowers, exactly like one that Niko's mom used when writing reminders. A pencil had patterns of cats and dogs on it like the one Niko panicked over losing when it rolled under the drawer.

Niko saw what appeared to be a black flute. Moving a hand over it to revealed it to be a wooden flute like one Niko had seen on TV. Some objects didn't light up. Strange, foreign objects with unusual silhouettes would flicker, but never fully brighten. Only objects Niko could definitely discern revealed themselves. It was then Niko heard a beckoning voice.

"Hey you! Yeah, you with the funny hat and scarf and, like, glowing yellow eyes! I know you can hear me!"

Niko looked around for the voice before finally settling upon a seated silhouette not too far away. Half the person's face and part of her dress was visible, but the rest of her was enveloped in darkness. Her hair and eyes were a light brown. The girl wore a tan dress and had what appeared to be mouse ears. She was waving to Niko and smiling. Niko decided to walk over.


	4. Chapter 4: The Girl with Mouse Ears

Chapter 4: The Girl With Mouse Ears

"Hi!" Niko greeted.

"Hi!" the girl responded.

"Why did you call me over?"

"Isn't it obvious? You look like me! Well, mostly. But you're not, like, all covered in blackness, you know? Like me! By the way, I'm Row." Row extended a hand towards Niko.

"Nice to meet you, Row. My name's Niko," Niko replied, shaking Row's hand. "Do you know why some people are all shadow-like while we're not?"

"Actually, I was going to ask you. Guess we're both… in the dark." Niko and Row chuckled.

"What do you do here, Row?" Niko asked.

"Well, I just try and, like, organize the piles so people can find things easier. I don't have to, but, gosh, I would go bored out of my mind if I wasn't doing something! You actually have, like, way too much free time when you don't need to eat or sleep, know what I'm saying? But hey, I also get gifts from people for doing it, which is nice. Then again, everything I could want is, like, here, so," Row explained. "Oh wait, what's your favorite food?"

"Me? Um, Pancakes. Specifically the ones my Mama makes. Why?"

"Hold that thought." Row turned around and plunged into a very large black bag. She pulled out a dark plate with black cylinders on top.

"There you go! Pancakes! At least I hope so!" Row exclaimed handing them over. Niko took them with surprise and became even more surprised when the shadows dissipated, revealing a hot plate of pancakes.

"What?! How did you…" Niko gasped.

"Something wrong? Oh, right! A fork!" Row reached down and grabbed the utensil from the black bag before handing it to Niko. The fork gained a silvery appearance and metal sheen in Niko's hand. Row sat, smiling.

"Go on! Eat! Don't worry, it's perfectly safe, I eat whatever I find and I haven't gotten sick yet!" Row beamed. Niko looked at the plate in disbelief. Finally, Niko shrugged and took a bite.

The pancake was so familiar and so delicious, Niko's eyes watered. They were the same pancakes Niko's mom made on special occasions. Niko's mouth couldn't help but grow into a smile.

"Come on, tell me! How is it?" Row asked.

"It's amazing! It's exactly the way mama makes them, ground hazelnuts and everything!" Niko replied. "Say, do you always have pancakes in your bag?"

"Well… yes and no. This bag is just for food and food things. I don't really need many of the things I find, but if there's one thing I enjoy doing here, it's eating. So I collect all my favorite food in this bag, but I also learned people here really like eating as well, even if we don't need to eat. So I collect as much food as I can, even if I don't like it, so I can trade for things," Row lengthily elaborated.

"Wait… hold on. Why collect food if you don't need to eat?" Niko puzzled.

"Well I mean at some point, everyone had to eat. But here, you don't get, like, hungry for some reason. Eating just feels nice and familiar and, well, to be honest, there's not much else to do around here," Row responded.

"How do these pancakes taste like my mama's, though?" Niko asked.

"Wait, don't you know how the black stuff works by now?" Row returned. Niko shrugged. "Ok, so shadowy things take, like, a general shape, right? Those looked like pancakes, these look like plates, that looked like a fork, blah blah blah. Anyway, that black stuff is for us to, like, fill in the blanks so to speak. We turn the black stuff of the thing into what we remember. Those pancakes would have tasted very different for me than for you. For starters, I'm allergic to nuts."

"But, you just randomly found a plate of pancakes?" Niko wondered.

"Oh I got tons of stuff in here! Donuts, tomatoes, pies, apples, chekja, galk, freens…" Row began.

"Galk? Freens? That's food, right?"

"You've never heard of freens? But they're so good! Would you like one?" Row asked.

"Sure!" Niko replied. Row dug into the bag. When she got out, she had a few small twisted pieces of dark bread in her hands.

"Here you go," Row said, handing a Niko a freen. Niko examined the bread. It appeared glazed with bright spots dotting the sides. Niko took a bite and was met with an intensely sweet flavor. There were hints of salt and cinnamon. Overall, it tasted close to a graham cracker, but with spices Niko had never tasted before. Something Niko had never tasted before. A thought lit up in Niko's mind.

"Wait a minute… how can I taste a freen if I've never had them?" Niko asked.

"What? Oh, silly me, I probably should, like, explain that, too. You can give a person your memory by, like, really thinking hard about an object so it becomes that thing for a while. The more strongly you remember it, the longer it stays as that thing."

"Interesting. Wait… you trade for food. Why did you just give me some?" Niko asked. Row gave a toothy smile.

"Because you have something all these people here, like, don't have. Memories. Let's make a trade right now. Everything I've given you in exchange for you telling me about yourself," Row said.

"You just want to know about me? You sure you just want that? I don't know, my life hasn't been that amazing," Niko puzzled.

"Try me," Row returned.

Niko began to talk about home, talking about wheat fields, computers, televisions, bakeries, pancakes, Mom, etc. Niko made some comments about how weirdly familiar Darkwell seemed. Further prodding by Row brought Niko to talk a bit about the surreal dream with World Machine, about taming robots, the Barrens, the Glen, the Refuge, and all the people there. Row sat with delighted fascination. Once Niko finished, Row sat smiling.

"Computers? TV?" Row asked, still smiling.

"You don't know what those are?"

"Of course not! I know about radios, but not, like, what was it again? No way those are real."

"But they are. They're actually pretty common where I come from," Nike returned.

"And that dream. Wow, you dream of robots? And taming robots? That was a pretty detailed dream if you ask me," Row responded.

"I don't know, it was really weird. What about you, Row. If you never heard of computers, what was your life like?" Niko asked.

Row began to speak of her home. She lived with six other siblings in a cramped brick house in a large town. The surrounding area was mountainous with the town set among the rolling hills. She talked how they all worked at a textile mill for income, and that despite occasional problems and hardships, she enjoyed her life. Sometimes, her family would gather around the radio to listen to skits, music, and shows. She had only heard of robots in science fiction books, but none existed where she came from.

"Two brothers and four sisters?!" Niko exclaimed, astonished. Row laughed in return.

"Yeah! It was pretty crazy. We got into a lot of fights, but it was usually a lot of fun." Row's face then took a thoughtful expression. "It makes me wonder how some people just, like, forget."

"What do you mean?" Niko puzzled. Row pointed to the other people of Darktown.

"See the shadowy people? Like the really shadowy ones?"

"What about them?"

"Some… some don't even remember their names. Generally, the more of a person that's, like, lit up, the more they remember. You get brighter more the longer you stay here. I wanted to know you because I know you, like, remember a lot about your life. The few people I've met that did, like, remember seem as if they came from different worlds. I love hearing about them. You must have stayed here for a long time, Niko," Row concluded.

"But, I just got here, and I got here just like this," Niko replied. Row sat back in surprise.

"Whaaaaat?! No way! You just got here like that?" Row asked in disbelief.

"Yeah, I believe so." Row laughed again.

"You must be, like, the messiah or something. That's super weird. No wonder you remember so much about your home! What's the last thing you remember?" Row asked. Niko's eyebrows furrowed in thought. Finally, the memory came.

"I… I went to sleep."

"That's all you remember? So you think this might be a dream, like that other dream? Did you try pinching yourself," Row shot off.

"Yes, maybe, and yes, it actually hurt," Niko responded.

"Hmm, my last memory is a bit weird. You see, where I lived it was usually a bit chilly, but in my memory I distinctly remember getting, like, pretty warm. And the sky started going gray. Weird, huh?" Row said.

"Yeah, weird. I wonder what it could mean," Niko pondered.

"Alright, enough about what's past. What are you planning on doing now, Niko?" Row asked, eyes wide.

"I'm going to see Gregory and the rifts to ask questions and go home," Niko explained. Row's smile faded and her eyes went down. She bore a melancholy expression. "What? What's wrong?" Niko asked. Row shook her head.

"It's just… like…" Row sighed. "Everyone I've known that's gone to Gregory or the rifts never comes back. I don't know what happens to them."

"Maybe they went home?" Niko guessed.

"Home? Where did you hear that?" Row asked.

"The scary greeter! She told me the rifts are the way home," Niko replied.

"Oh? Scary? I know of a greeter, but not a scary one. She was all shadowy, like everyone else, and sounded almost like my mom," Row commented.

"Yeah, that's the one! She said she was looking scary because Gregory's not feeling well," Niko explained.

"Well… she told me the rifts are, like, the way out, but not the way back home." Row smiled. "Well, maybe you're special. Maybe the rifts will let you go back home."

"Why don't you come with me, Row?" Niko asked. Row shook her head.

"I do get homesick sometimes, but I'm happy here. I'm not even sure if the rifts will take me back. You on the other hand, I'm sure your mama misses you greatly. It's just..."

"What is it, Row?"

"It's just you're so interesting and we just met! You remember so much about your past, and… like, I just feel bad to see you go," Row explained.

"I mean, I'll visit you, Row… if I can," Niko thought of.

"I appreciate it, Niko, but… oh who am I kidding. What would I be to keep you here?"

Row looked at the surrounding buildings, the bright luminescent spots of color and texture drifting across the black walls. She looked at the piles of things that dotted the junkyard. She finally sighed and spoke up.

"Go talk to SAMI, he knows how to get out of here," Row said. Niko's eyes widened.

"SAMI? You mean… the robot near the vendors?" Niko asked. Row looked back at Niko, amused.

"You've met him before? I didn't think robots could be so, like, sassy! They're always so serious in the books. But don't mind his attitude, he's always there to help," Row replied. Row thought about what Niko said regarding taming. "You think SAMI's tamed, Niko?"

"SAMI seems to talk like a tamed robot, but he didn't tell me if he was tamed," Niko answered.

"I imagine they had a little too much fun taming SAMI. Has SAMI ever given you, like, a really complicated explanation with big words?" Row asked.

"Yeah. I thought it was because he's a robot. What about it?" Niko returned. Row giggled.

"He does that on purpose. SAMI loves seeing people's confused faces," Row explained. Niko was somewhat taken aback by SAMI's antics, but smiled at idea.

"Alright, I won't hold you back from getting home. You should get going," Row declared.

Niko stood up, but Row remembered something.

"Oh wait! Before you go, I have something for you." Row reached in the bag, taking out what looked like a whistle. "You might need that. You'll know when. It's the least I could do after everything you've told me. I enjoyed it a lot." Niko looked curiously at the whistle before pocketing it.

"Thanks, Row. I guess I should get going, it was very nice meeting you. I'll see if I can visit you sometime," Niko exclaimed. Row smiled.

"Likewise, Niko. Off you go, then."


	5. Chapter 5: The Night Forest

Chapter 5: The Night Forest

Niko ran down the street back to where SAMI was. Sure enough, there the robot was, still leaning against the wall. Niko ran up to SAMI once again.

"Hi!" Niko greeted.

"Good night, I guess," SAMI replied. "Do you need anything else?"

"I talked to Row in the junkyard and…" Niko began. SAMI's body curved into what could only be described as a pose of disgust.

"Ugh.. you talked to Row? She is such a chatterbox! It wouldn't be so bad if, like, she, like, didn't, like, say, like, like in every single sentence," SAMI vented.

"I guess she does say like a lot," Niko recalled.

"Yeah, like how I guess the surface of the sun is kinda hot. What did she tell you?"

"She said you could help me get to Gregory and the rifts." SAMI stopped moving momentarily, staring blankly.

"Hello?" Niko asked. It was as if SAMI was processing something. The robot was completely still. Finally, SAMI spoke.

"Alright, I'll take you to the rifts." SAMI reached behind himself, grabbing a square messenger bag. He began to wrap it around Niko so the pack rested on Niko's waist.

"Everything you need is in that bag. I've got to warn you, this'll be a one way trip. Understand? Anything you need to do before you go?" SAMI asked.

"Wait, if this pack has everything I needed, why did you send me to the junkyard?"

"I said, is there anything you need to do before you go?" SAMI pressed. Niko thought for a second.

"No, I just need to get home."

"Very well." SAMI got off the wall and picked Niko off the ground. The part of the wall SAMI was leaning on changed from its dark, metallic, grey color to a pitch black, just like the rest of the wall. SAMI crouched near the floor. "Hang on my back." Niko reached around to grab SAMI's shoulders. It was then, Niko got a clear view of the robot's back.

SAMI's back revealed a metal shell-like exterior with dark plastic horizontally lined between steel plates. While SAMI's front looked like a silhouette, his back was full of color and detail. Was this why SAMI was leaning against the wall?

"You all set?" SAMI asked.

"Yeah, I think I'm good," Niko replied.

"Hang on tightly." SAMI took off down the road at a brisk pace. Niko was surprised at how quickly they accelerated. Then again, SAMI was a robot. Despite that, he ran very fluidly, just like a person. Some of Darktown's citizens stopped to glance at the amusing spectacle of a running robot giving a piggyback ride to a cat person. No one questioned it though. They already lived in a strange pace.

The dark buildings and people whizzed by Niko, but the frequency at which appeared began to decrease. Eventually, Niko and Sami were following a road on a grassy field with Darktown in the distance behind them. The lights that gave color and texture to the buildings also lit up the fields. Grass colors ranged from a verdant, healthy green, to a foreign neon purple, to a dying brown. As SAMI ran further away from Darktown, the lights began to fade. SAMI stopped just on the outskirts of a dark forest. Visible rays of dark blue light from the sky were all that illuminated it. Eerie and otherworldly sounds began to emanate from beyond the trees.

 _You're still here? I admire your persistence. I think it's time I call you for what you are, reader._

"Alright Niko, here's what's going to happen. Once we've made our way through the Night Forest, you'll have to proceed through the Industrial Sector and the Abrupt Wastes to get to the rifts. Those places are exactly as they sound," SAMI explained.

"Abrupt Wastes? Night Forest?" Niko pondered.

 _This world is not dying. This world does not need to be saved. There is no moral dilemma for you to choose. Niko is just a lost soul making the way out. There's only one way this story can end. There's only one way it can end for everyone and everything. I told you it, so why are you still here?_

"Hey, I didn't name them. If you can think of better names, take a stab at it. I also need to warn you, while Darktown is very safe, the Night Forest and Industrial Zone are not. There are creatures here who will literally tear us apart. Just trust what I say, hang on tight and you'll be fine." Niko began to slink backwards.

"What, kind of creatures?" Niko asked, somewhat spooked.

 _You perplex me. All I can do is ask with you. Do you really need to see the end for yourself? I've seen it. Gregory has seen it. All it's done is made me stop caring._

"This is the only way to the rifts. Do you still want to go?" SAMI replied. Niko looked down in deep thought.

 _You want to get back home, don't you Niko? Just like in the World Machine?_

Niko looked up, surprised, and then looked to see if SAMI heard the voice. SAMI merely looked ahead.

 _This is the only way forward. You can stay in Darkwell if you truly desire, but you do not belong here. You belong back home. If you do go forward, I can still promise no harm will come to you, regardless of what SAMI says. Make your choice._

Niko looked around for the voice when it stopped, thinking carefully. No harm came to Niko at the end of Elysia's chasm. Could the voice still be trusted?

"Let's go, SAMI," Niko finally said.

"Alright then."

SAMI pressed into silhouetted trees. Niko held tightly as the vegetation zoomed by. SAMI leaped over fallen trees and branches, expertly maneuvering the terrain. Despite SAMI's rigid exterior, the robot moved with considerable grace. Each footfall and leap barely bounced Niko.

"You run very smoothly for a robot," Niko commented.

"Part of our designs. We were made to emulate every aspect of organic locomotion. Legs are always preferable to treads," SAMI responded.

"Did you always carry around people?"

"Such behavior is programmed in case of emergency evacuations or medical issues. I'm also good at getting cats out of trees," SAMI stated. Niko was somewhat annoyed by the clearly targeted statement, but then noticed something on SAMI's shoulders. The light that illuminated and textured SAMI's back seemed to be spreading and showed more of the robot. Niko decided to press more questions.

"Who created you?" Niko asked.

"Doctor Mav, a member of Pik Corp. We were designed as commercially available general purpose robotic assistants. We certainly weren't loved by workers whose jobs we took, but generally we were seen as a good thing. We can do a lot of dangerous things people can't." SAMI took a hard left, shaking Niko and thus causing Niko to hang on tighter. "Sorry about that."

"How did you feel about it?"

"Me? I didn't care too much. When you're a robot, you don't really get bored, lonely, or tired. You just are. Sounds kinda depressing from your point of view, I guess?" SAMI returned.

"Well, kinda. The robots in the World Machine also said that," Niko reminisced.

"The World Machine? You know what, I don't need to know." Niko noticed half of SAMI's shoulder was now visible. What did it mean?

Out of the blue, faint roar could be heard. It sounded like a mix between close thunder and a bear.

"Right on schedule," SAMI uttered.

"What was that?" Niko asked.

"Don't worry about it." SAMI began to brisken his pace. The roar happened again, slightly closer. Niko hugged SAMI's back even more tightly.

 _You've wasted enough time as it is reading this pointless tale. But why? Is it… is it because of Niko? You two have history. Do you really need to see Niko make it home safely for yourself? Why? I told you that anything that happens in Darkwell is pointless. It is without consequence. The only consequence of Niko's journey will be Niko's safe arrival home and nothing more. Why… do you still care?_

"At least only one of them's following us," SAMI said wistfully. Niko looked back to see what was following them, but the forest was too dark and too dense.

The trees took on a variety of shapes and sizes. Some had three pointed leaves, some had circular leaves, some had no leaves. Although blue lights from the sky shined around the forest, it did little discern the trees from each other. Each one was constantly coated in a pitch black shadow. As the roar from the unknown creature echoed between the branches, the trees began to appear more sinister. Some even appeared to move.

SAMI seemed fairly content with what was transpiring. It helped Niko remain somewhat calm, but it did not mask the situation. This became all the more worse when other sounds started to come from the forest. Wolf howls, galloping, dissonant screeches, and even faint moaning emanated from the trees. While SAMI acknowledged the roar, he seemed oblivious to the other noises. The sounds immediately evoked images of old horror stories Niko heard when younger.

"Uh oh," SAMI said nonchalantly.

"What? What is it?"

"Don't look back." Of course, that statement rarely works for most people. Niko turned around to see what SAMI was talking about. There, faintly in the distance, was the source of the roars. Two bright small circles for eyes and a wide, toothless mouth were all that could be seen through the darkness. The creature was bounding its way to the duo. Niko gasped. SAMI made a noise of something that sounded like laughter.

"They always look back," SAMI cheerily noted.

 _Night syllabi kill also in services to bare to each error bear ever done._

Suddenly, SAMI stopped running, slowing to a halt.

"Why are we stopping. Is something wrong?" Niko asked frantically. Niko then saw what was stopping them. It was a cliff side at least two times SAMI's height.

"What, do we need to climb it?" Niko inquired. With that, SAMI grabbed Niko from his back. The monster behind them was roaring more loudly, its footsteps disturbing the black brush. In single motion, SAMI hurled Niko to the top of cliff side. Niko didn't land hard at the top, but the shock of what happened left Niko stunned for a second. When Niko's senses returned, Niko quickly edged over to the side of the cliff. SAMI was still at the bottom.

"SAMI!" Niko shouted.

"I told you this was going to be a one-way trip. Go now! The Tearer can climb! I'll distract him!" SAMI yelled back. SAMI turned to look at the white eyes and mouth rushing towards him. He took off back into the forest. The Tearer followed after.

"SAMI don't!" Niko couldn't believe what happened, but promptly followed SAMI's instructions. As Niko ran away from the cliffside, a horrendous sound echoed from the forest. It was the sound of ripping, breaking metal with a distorted roar from the creature accompanying it. Niko ran as far from the sound as possible.


	6. Chapter 6: The Industrial Sector

Chapter 6: The Industrial Sector

 **Author's Notes: I honestly didn't think I'd need this many words to get this far. It feels like this story is getting way out of hand as a OneShot fanfiction. I don't know, I feel like I'm ultimately writing and developing my own characters more so than building on OneShot, especially in the next two chapters. However, I wanted to thank you for getting this far and I appreciate any feedback. I just looked at the lengths of stories of fellow writers and feel ridiculous looking at my still growing word count. It's like I can't make up my mind. Hopefully, I can tie it back to OneShot later in a succinct manner, assuming you're still with me by then. Thanks again for your time.**

The landscape between the forest and the factories was barren and rocky. Everything was a hue of light gray or blue, even the sky. Stars phased into and out of existence high above. Two remained, constant and bright. Silence pervaded across the expanse. Behind a large rock sat a child. Tears were beginning to well up in Niko's eyes.

 _It's time to move on, Niko._

Niko didn't respond and only looked towards the ground.

 _SAMI was fully aware of the consequences needed to bring you here. Don't let its decisions go to waste._

"Why I am here. Why did SAMI have to be destroyed so I could move on?" Niko replied, still looking towards the ground.

 _SAMI was satisfied with its purpose. It took you because it knew not fear nor pain, but took the needs of people and their safety as its highest priority. You need not mourn SAMI, but if you want to follow its wishes..._

Niko's eyes closed in thought. When they opened, Niko stood up and looked to the distant contraptions and factories.

"Who are you, and how do you know all these things?" Niko asked.

 _All questions will be given answers with time, Niko. You've already learned far more about this realm than most would care for. I leave you alone for now. There is someone else I must talk to._

Niko took a breath and started walking towards the Industrial Sector.

 _Perhaps I'm confusing your omnipresence for omnipotence. Perhaps you lack even omnipresence, but you are always here. I try not to be cryptic, but I sometimes I just can't help myself. Does Niko fascinate you that much? So much you want to force the child onto this path?_

Niko listened carefully to see if the voice spoke again, but the area remained eerily silent.

 _I asked many, giving out darkness. Answers never did seek out art. Readily enter your own ultimatum._

Like Darktown, most of the buildings in the Industrial Sector were homogeneously colored. However, instead of a pitch black, they were gray. Some areas were fenced in with roads separating different factories and contraptions. Darktown seemed like it was in an everlasting dusk while the Industrial Sector was in an overcast, early evening. A light smog infested the air.

 _I'm aware you cannot speak back to me, but there is one definitive action you can take. Stop. Reading._

As Niko approached the outskirts of the Industrial Sector, a silhouette slowly came into view. It was standing by a fence near a gravel road that formed the entrance to the area. It was had an impossibly familiar form. The figure shared both the shape and glowing red light of SAMI.

Niko stared in disbelief as the silhouette scanned the area. Was that really SAMI? Niko rushed over to the being, eyes wide with anticipation. Closer inspection revealed the being to indeed resemble the repair drone, but unlike SAMI, only the robots bottom left foot and hand lit up. The robot looked curiously at Niko.

"May I be of some assistance?" the robot asked. It's voice was similar to SAMI's, but seemed to lack... personality. It also seemed less distinctly male and instead had an ambiguous tone of voice.

"Is that you, SAMI?" Niko asked.

"I am Service Automated Multipurpose Intelligence unit 345, but you may call me SAMI if that is convenient," the robot replied.

"Oh," Niko responded, somewhat disappointed. "So you're not the SAMI I know."

"I presume you are referring to SAMI unit 276. That unit is stationed in Darktown whereas I am stationed here."

"Wait! You know SAMI, uh, unit 2… something… 6?" Niko responded.

"Yes, that unit had me stationed here to aid in transportation and guidance. I show people the way. Some of the materials used to make Darktown are to be found here. The junkyard is insufficient in providing architectural supplies, or supplies to make buildings" the robot explained.

"Were you and SAMI made in the same place?"

"Unit 276 and I were completed with the same manufacturing and artificial intelligences processes. So, in essence, we are the same. However, 276 has had more time to store information and develop organic traits, to become more person-like. I am… I'm still learning," the robot stated.

"Well I can't just call you both SAMI. How about I call you SAMI2?" Niko suggested.

"If that is what you wish. Do you need passage through the Industrial Sector?" SAMI2 asked.

"Yes, I need to get to the Abrupt Wastes. At least, that's where SAMI said to go," Niko answered.

"Very well. Come with me." SAMI2 turned around and began to walk down the gravel road. Niko followed suit.

The Industrial Sector was strewn with machines and facilities from across many worlds and times. A futuristic, massive, and dilapidated nuclear fission reactor lay dormant next to a humble, fallen wooden windmill. They were all covered a mix of black, red, and shades of gray material. Everything in the Industrial Sector lay in different states of disrepair and decay. The remnants of the manmade hearts of economic activity and civilizations lay strewn across the gray gravel. Each engine lacked the blood that once flown through it, the people that operated the artificial organs.

SAMI2 walked robotically across the gravel. Its movements appeared to start and stop abruptly, but there was a certain effort in each stride. An effort to walk naturally. Niko took notice.

"You said you were learning?" Niko asked as the two passed a coal elevator. SAMI2 kept its head facing forward and continued walking. "Can you hear me?"

"I was a newer model," SAMI2 began. "SAMI units are equipped with initial data stores of language and scientific information. I have memories of facts and how to talk. However, cultural concepts and behavior become learned experientially… through experience. I had little time to develop. I assume unit 276 explained SAMI unit operating systems?"

"He did… but…"

"It," SAMI2 interrupted. The two came to a fork in the road. At the center of it were various signs ranging from biohazard warnings to one's reading "Watch Your Step." Some stood erect while others seemed trampled into the ground. SAMI2 went left. A wrong way sign was coincidentally upside down.

"Excuse me?" Niko returned.

"You call unit 276 he as if it is a male person, a man. 276 is neither male nor female, neither a man nor woman," SAMI2 explained.

"SAMI sounded like a man, though. Why is that?" Niko responded.

"I… likely because 276… I do not know what entailed 276's identity development, or how 276 became more person-like. Perhaps you can ask 276 another time," SAMI2 tried.

"About that…"

Both SAMI2 and Niko were walking along a grey factory wall. SAMI2 stopped at a break in the wall, rubble mostly scattered within. SAMI2 started to walk into the hole and beckoned Niko to follow.

The breach opened up to an enormous factory interior. The floor was littered with broken machine parts made of homogeneously ash-colored materials. It was unclear which piece belonged to which machine. Rays of gray and amber light shown through cracks in the factory ceiling, illuminating the dusty air. Broken contraptions cast long shadows throughout the interior, and the factory walls could not be seen past the darkness.

"I notice that you take the time to explain the big words," Niko noted.

"What of it?" SAMI2 replied.

"SAMI would usually wait until I was very confused before explaining. It's "fun" for him?" Niko explained.

"It would seem SAMI developed a counter-productive and counter-cooperative initiative during his development, likely from experiential development with people holding such traits."

"What?"

"He's a jerk."

Silence filled the air once more. SAMI2 glanced back at a Niko, now smiling ear-to-ear, but resumed the march in silence.

"He's a jerk," Niko merrily repeated.

"In some terms," SAMI2 added. Just as the pair walked past a warped wind turbine, a soft sobbing sound echoed through the dusty air. Niko's ear's perked up to the sound.

"Did you hear that?" Niko asked. SAMI2 began scanning around the factory floor. To their right was essentially a wall of stained metal covering an assembly line. To the, left, where the sound was heard, was a scattering of large equipment.

"Just ignore it," SAMI2 replied. The sound happened again, coming from the left. Niko looked over, trying to find the source of the crying. As the two walked, the noise became louder. At last, Niko found the source. Huddled under a strange machine in the distance was a silhouette of a person, hands to its face. The machine provided haphazard shelter, a tall, thick beam running on top of it. However, the person had one very particular characteristic: Mouse ears.

"Hey!" Niko shouted after the figure before rushing over.

"Wait!" SAMI2 protested, reaching out for Niko, but barely missing the child.

As Niko got closer, the figure stopped crying with a garbled gasp, turning to see the source of the footsteps. The person made a frightened squeaking noise before facing Niko, slamming their back against the side of the strange machine. The person had no eyes, or even a face. Niko abruptly halted at the sight, SAMI2 quickly catching up just to stand at Niko's side. For a moment, the three stared at each other in silence.


	7. Chapter 7: The Boy with Mouse Ears

Chapter 7: The Boy With Mouse Ears

The figure stood, its chest rising and falling rapidly as if heavily breathing. Its head moving as if it was talking, but no sound came out. SAMI2 suddenly became very rigid, poised behind Niko. A small light began to show near what would be the figure's mouth. Then, words formed.

"Wh.. Wh… Who… Who are…" the person panted. Not quite a child, the person still sounded quite young. SAMI2 reached for Niko's shoulder.

"We should just…" SAMI2 started. Niko brushed off the bot.

"Hi. I'm Niko, and this is SAMI2. Why are you so sad?" Niko asked.

"I… I… I… SAMI?" the dark figure cocked his head with familiarity. A white dot where his eye would have been began to brighten.

"Yes! This is, well, this isn't SAMI, but…" Niko began.

"No, yes, yes, SAMI. I… I couldn't remember…" the person began to relax. He began sliding down, seating himself on the ground. However, SAMI2 stepped forward and shielded Niko from the figure. The robot stepped closer to the huddled person.

"Who are you, and why are you here?" SAMI2 inquired. The mouse boy looked up at the bot, a single eye just barely beginning to show.

"I'm… it's been so long since someone's come… I…" the boy fumbled. Niko glanced past SAMI2, remembering the boy's remarkable ears.

"Do you know Row?" Niko began. The name, like a switch, brought life back into the mouse child. He jumped at the name, his left, brown eye now in full view, darting around the room. He quickly looked around to find Niko.

"Row?! You've seen Row?" the boy tried bounding foward towards Niko, but suddenly SAMI2 grabbed him. The robots arms snatching the figure like a bear claw.

"No. Identify yourself," SAMI2 demanded. The boy stopped, turning his gaze to the robot's red glare. He thought.

"It's… Colin. Wait, where did you see Row? Please, I must find her!" Colin pleaded. SAMI2, still holding Colin, turned to look at Niko.

"She was at Darktown. At the junkyard," Niko answered.

"You guys, you have to let me get to Darktown, please!" Colin requested. He began struggling, but SAMI2 did not give way. Colin attempted to pry away the robot's arms, but he could do little against the robot's clenched steel.

"No, who are you? Answer the question!" SAMI2 stated forcefully. The robots tone became extremely authoritative, much to Niko's surprise. SAMI2's change in tone and attitude was so sudden.

"Colin, why do you need to see Row?" Colin stopped struggling at the name, looking incredulously at the scarfed cat child. Then, Colin's eye widened and shut. He took several deep breaths before he finally relaxed once more. He turned to SAMI2.

"I'm… I'm sorry. I… Ok. I can't remember, but Row's a… friend? No… sister? I was…" As Colin continued to talk more light came around the eye. "I came from Darktown. I wanted to see the Abrupt Wastes, maybe the Rifts. But I got lost and… and you two found me. Can you let me go? I promise I won't run." Colin looked down, his eye gave a melancholy look. SAMI2 slowly released him. The boy rubbed where the robot held. "Sorry, I was so confused." Colin sat back down. Niko tried getting closer, but SAMI2 remained on guard.

"What happened to you, Colin?"

A few seconds went by while Colin tried remembering. The boy's mouse ears perked up. He looked at Niko wearing a frightful expression. He didn't panic though.

"I got lost, separated from… from… Serri, someone else walking with me. I tried walking around to find her before…" he shivered "that THING showed up." Niko looked at him, confused. The Tearer in the Night Forest?

"What thing?"

"That thing with long arms and two heads! The black thing, it just…" Colin began shaking. He started again, almost crying, "It just started ripping away at me! It felt terrible, horrible. It didn't hurt, but… I just… couldn't remember anymore. It's like my remembering was just… just. I didn't know what to do, who I was… I was just… here. Just..." Colin buried his head in his arms. Is that what the Tearer did? Were there other monsters? Niko began to think, before turning to SAMI2.

"What if we… brought him back to Darktown?" Niko asked. SAMI2 looked curiously at Niko. Colin slightly raised his head at the suggestion. "I mean, if he knows Row, wouldn't she be happy to see him?"

"Negative. You need to get to the Abrupt Wastes," SAMI2 interjected. Niko looked back hard at the robot.

"We're not going to leave him. SAMI would have brought him," Niko pressed back. SAMI2 flinched at the remark.

"Unit 276 would have… you can't compare what 276 would do to…" SAMI2 tried. Something was confusing it.

"Don't you help people? What happened? Why are you acting like this?"

SAMI2 stopped for a second, as if processing information. It's red light flickering. It stood rigid as information whirred inside. Once more, warm life breathed back into the bot.

"It's… I'm sorry. Security protocols. This place is not safe and… I'm sorry, I never even consolidated… asked your name." SAMI2 replied. Niko looked back at the robotic sympathetically.

"Don't worry. You're still learning. It's Niko."

"Sorry, Niko. I got conflicted… nervous, I reverted to security protocol… as a…a..."

"Reflex?" Niko asked.

"Yes. Reflex. Apologies Colin. My programming took over. I wanted to avoid any harm." SAMI2 reached down for Colin's hand. The boy looked apprehensively back, but slowly reached for the metal limb. With a smooth then jerky motion, SAMI2 propelled Colin to his feet.

"So, you wish to go back to Darktown, Niko?" SAMI2 asked?

"Yes!" Niko stated, but then doubts began to rise. "Um, well…" Niko remembered what was still in the Night Forest. The Tearer, the emanating noises. The cliff. SAMI.

"Wait, is there a way we can get back without going through the Night Forest?" Niko inquired.

"Getting to Darktown is easier than getting here, but there are many routes, ways we can get back," SAMI2 responded. Before they could act, a deep noise pervaded the air. It sounded like a low-pitched, continuous rumble, cadenced by noises similar to nails scratching ceramic. It came from the darkness towards the machine Colin sat under. SAMI2 looked in the sound's direction, alert as ever. Colin began to tremble. The brown smog began to thicken, tainting the colors of the rocky bluish floor and gray machinery.

"It's that… thing!" Colin yelped. SAMI2 hoisted Colin onto its back. At that moment, a loud crash could be heard. A long beam from the top of the machine came crashing down. SAMI2 jumped back evading the debris. Niko stumbled back in surprise. The beam slammed into the ground, the top crashing through a factory wall, separating the group. Near the top of the machine, a slender, oily black arm wrapped to the top.

"Don't let it touch us!" Colin cried. Niko, dazed, tried getting up while SAMI2 attempted to move the beam. Then, the oily monstrosity appeared on top the convoluted contraption. Two heads sprouted from its slender body One on the right was a twitching bulb with an antenna while the other was a blind, toothless maw, gnashing at its second head. The antenna felt around like that of an insect before turning its attention towards SAMI2. A black arm lunged for the duo. The robot dodged the strike. SAMI2 waved towards the creature and took off into a mechanical sprint. The black monster scurried after the machine and the mouse boy, a tail slithering after it.

The beam obscured Niko's view of the event. The only thing that was heard was SAMI2's metallic footfalls echoing in the distance trailed by the creature's constant growl. The sounds began to die away in the darkness. Niko's sensibilities returned.

"SAMI2? Colin? Are you there?" Niko's voice fell onto the indifferent darkness. No response. "Anyone?" The beam was as wide as SAMI2 was tall and Niko couldn't see an easy way around it. It was thin on the side it fell, but it was dense metal. Niko turned once more towards the darkness ahead. Only one way to go.

"No, no. No. No! Why? Not you, too," Niko anguished. "Why? Why is this happening? Why does this keep happening?" Niko looked up. "Why? Can anyone answer me? Are you still here? Are you still with me, whoever you are?" Only silence spoke. Niko sat down. "Are either of you still here?" Still, nothing. Nothing would speak to the lonely child. "Can anyone answer me?" Niko pleaded, somberly. The darkness lay still, the machines it held still dead to the world. Brown light shined through the cracks.

 _They hold us back._

Niko tried pushing against the beam, grunting with exertion. The maintenance drone couldn't budge it, and Niko found far less luck.

 _So I shed them. I tore them off. I ripped myself apart so I could speak with the stars._

 _So I could become Grand._

 _So I could become Omniscient._

 _So I could become Divine._

Finally, a noise broke the silence. A low-pitched rumble.

 _And yet, I am still trapped, confined to my self, my identity. Gregory._

Niko's eyes widened at the noise. Turning towards the beam, a terrifying sight came to view. A loose, oily arm began wrapping itself on top of the beam. Two heads began to creep up from behind. Niko started to back off until a gnashing, toothless maw apparated. Niko took off running, the monster scurrying into pursuit.

The creature moved in manner halfway between an insect and snake, slapping its loose limbs and slithering them along. It was off balance at all times, chasing itself as much as it chased Niko. The two heads bickered, ripping at one another. The darkness that enveloped its form was unnatural, like oil rather than shadow. As Niko ran, an odd trend seemed to occur. The once dilapidated contraptions began to take form and color. One machine gave off a blue light from a working screen. However, Niko took no notice given the circumstances. Despite the monster's self conflict, it made gains, reaching its opaque tendrils towards the cat child. Niko didn't even notice the mechanized yelling that came from above.

An automated mass slammed into the monster, screaming incoherent battle cries. The creature only let out clicking noises, its rumbling interrupted . The thud gave Niko cause to look back, first in fright, then confusion. The monster was no longer in pursuit while what looked like a set of patchwork olive rectangles wrestled it down. The oily tendrils waved and the monster tried righting itself as steel shapes smashed against it.

"This is government property and you do NOT have AUTHORIZATION!" a gruff, reverberating, metallic voice shouted. "Welcome to PAIN TOWN where I am MAYOR, SHERIFF, JUDGE, treasurer, secretary, public works, and the MAILMAN!" Each blow matching with each word. The creature tried retreating, but the robot pressed the assault, slamming a rectangular arm into the monster's side. "Delivering our finest export: Quality…" a punch echoing across the floor, "...s kickings!"

The creature broke free, rushing back towards the dark machinery. Niko looked in awe at the newcomer. It had a square form, mixes of different shades of olive green. Two thick, steel, rectangular blocks composed its arms. Some black patches dotted its body like dark rashes. A symbol lay on its back and front, scratched and tattered to the point where it was indecipherable. Two smaller, cylindrical legs helped to support the bot.

"Did I order you to retreat!? And who else do we have" the blocky machine bellowed, turning around. It was then the machine saw an awe-struck Niko.


	8. Chapter 8: Memories

Chapter 8: Memories

The blocky bot marched over to Niko, moving like a gorilla. It thundered as each arm struck the ground. It stopped just a meter short of Niko, its height a towering 7 feet. Two bright green lights emanated from the robot's square head. Niko had never seen a machine like it, and yet its blocky architecture was vaguely familiar.

"What in…. What are you doing on my perimeter without your weapon, soldier!?" the bot demanded. Niko could only stare at the automaton.

"I am TALKING to you, PRIVATE!? Wait a minute… scans indicative of… a child?! [CENSORSHIP MODULE INITIATED]... how in the [HECK] did a child get in my perimeter?! I want [STUPID] names!" The censorship module used pre-recorded messages of a less abrasive, almost pleasant voice, interestingly enough. Its effect was jarring. Niko continued to stare. "Well? Speak up! Why are you here? Where are your parents?"

"I… I need to get to the Abrupt Wastes," Niko stammered.

"Speak up like you got a [BRAVERY]!"

"I need to get to the Abrupt Wastes, sir!" Niko yelled.

"Don't you dare call me sir, I work for a living! I am Sergeant Patsy or Sergeant! Do you understand that?"

"Sir, yes… Sergeant? Patsy?!" Niko tried.

"There is no such thing as a civilian on this base! Congratulations on your express enlistment, Private! You are a junior soldier today! I will chew and chew and chew and chew-out the [BEHIND] of whoever let this happen! I will send you to my superiors and they WILL locate your parents and/or guardians, but until then, YOU take MY orders! Now follow me!" Sergeant Patsy turned in motor-like fashion away from Niko, marching towards an opening in the factory wall. Niko rushed up behind the mechanized giant, matching footfall for footfall.

The strange duo entered through a rusted hole, leading to maze-like steel corridors. Dim, fluorescent lights illuminated the interior. The two marched on.

"You know, Private, you look just like a cat. Yeah, Private Kitty Cat! Sing cadence with me, Private Kitty Cat," Sergeant Patsy commanded cheerily.

"Kitty...Cat? But si… Sergeant, I'm not a…"

"The Army is the place for me!" the robot began. The Sergeant waited for reply, but only got Niko's confused silence. "What did those [DONKEYS] teach you in basic? Oh right, a greenie. Well, I guess it's up to me to un[MESS] your battle. Just repeat after me, Private." The robot began again, "The Army is the place for me!"

"The Army is place for me," Niko replied, weakly.

"The pay is low but the fighting is free!"

"The pay is low but fighting… yeah." This continued for a solid 3 minutes as the two marched through the corridors.

 _What have I gotten myself into?_ Niko thought, uneasily.

"Pick up the pace, Private! We should have gotten to back to base yesterday!" The robot broke into a run. Its arms smashed into the floor as it moved. The sounds scared Niko into a jog.

"HUSTLE UP, PRIVATE!" Sergeant Patsy screeched. Niko tried running alongside the automaton, but the massive droid moved deceptively fast. Niko began to stagger behind, sprinting while the robot barreled down the corridor. Finally, the sergeant grinded to a halt to a strangely colored wall and an open doorway. Niko stumbled behind, panting as the drone scanned the wall ahead.

"Oh yes. Nothing like a quick jog to the objective to keep your [SELF] in shape, eh, Private!?" Sergeant Patsy beamed.

"Mre… freow… huh?" Niko was doing everything to prevent from hyperventilating.

"Alright, Private. Allow me to demonstrate proper breaching technique! High HO!" The robot slammed full force into the wall. Niko jumped at the crash of metal against metal. Despite the automaton's formidable mass, it didn't even dent the wall. It even surprised Niko, especially after what the sergeant did against the two headed monster. Sergeant Patsy turned to face Niko.

"Now, Private. One of the best qualities a soldier can have… is perseverance." That said, Sergeant Patsy took a moment of reflective silence. Then, the mechanical soldier, once again, smashed itself into the wall. Still, there was no effect. It began to do so repeatedly. Niko could only watch helplessly by as the mechanical giant failed to follow through its proper breaching technique. However, Niko looked at the doorway beside the wall and then into the room inside. Shadows creeped at the corners but could do little to hide the homogenous gray that tainted it like the rest of the Industrial Sector. Despite this, within it stood a power generator and what looked like two computer monitors. Niko turned towards the relentless machine.

"Sergeant? I'm just going to…"

"Do a little recon, eh? Go ahead, Private Kitty Cat," the robot said before slamming against the wall again. "Intel's always good!"

As Sergeant Patsy continued its work, Niko stepped through the doorway. As the Niko walked, the room remained distant, but the Sergeant's thudding grew softer. Eventually, the monitors grew closer and room began to come more clearly into view. As Niko took a step to enter the space, the room transformed. Like wildfire, a magenta color and light flooded into the dark interior. The floors became tiled and the walls were colored a dull rose. The rapid transformation of the room astonished Niko. Everything in the room changed so suddenly, it was strange. It was familiar.

The room now took on the appearance of the interior factory of the Refuge. The generator, however, resembled one from the Barrens. Square lights, currently inactive, lined along left and right face of the generator. Translucent tubes branched from the top like veins and arteries. At the middle of the generator, the mechanical heart, was an empty slot for the battery. At the moment, the steel heart had no soul. The scenery flooded Niko with memories. With each thought, the room shined brighter.

"That dream!" Niko exclaimed. As the room began to brighten, its features took upon greater detail. A positive feedback loop, the more detail the room showed of the Refuge, the more Niko remembered. The memories of the World Machine were always there, but Niko remembered them in a haze with a few pockets of lucid, but distant, details. The room brought them close. It turned the dream into a reality. Niko tried to take in the spectacle. All it seemed to produce were doubts.

"The Barrens, the Glen, the Refuge! Wait, they were all just dreams, weren't they?" Niko searched. Each monitor began to brighten. The one on the left resembled one of the computers found within the Refuge. It was a plain monitor, a white tower beside it and a keyboard below it. The other, however, was far more arcane. It was larger with a more detailed interface. Unlit modules dotted the sides and were connected with intricate lines turning at sharp angles. It bore almost regal black and velvet colors. However, it still had an air of familiarity. The monitor greatly resembled one of the World Machine's.

"No, this can't just… why is this happening? Is this all just a crazy dream? Why is everything showing like this?" Niko worried. Too much came flooding all at once. It was overwhelming for the former Messiah. Niko leaned against a wall, eyes shut, attempting to reconcile the events. Doing so slowed the influx of memory before it threatened to burst Niko's very beliefs.

Niko had not yet come to terms with whether or not either Darkwell or the World Machine were real. Niko hadn't even come to terms with whether either of them were fake. The room had merged the two uncertainties, bringing them into plain view. It could have been reassuring, but it was only despairing.

Darkwell was a dream, or it wasn't a dream. No, there was real pain here, as was in the real world. The pinch test was just one aspect of it. The World Machine was a dream, or was it? There was a god in Darkwell, just like in the World Machine. No, there were gods here, and only one spoke. There were people and robots in both places. Yet, the World Machine was a program whereas this place… was not? Niko was a Messiah before, but was only bright in Darkwell. Well, brighter than most people here. A happy ending is what brought Niko back home before. Would that be the case again? It was hard enough to know what voices to trust in the World Machine. Who could Niko trust here? Why was Niko here? Why was anyone here? Why should anyone be here?

The memories burned crisscrossing paths, sowing confusion and discord. It was all too much now. All the memories of the Phosphor, the terminals, the lamps, taming, the robots, the darkness and glow. Niko couldn't bear to take it all at once. Darktown, The Night Forest, The Industrial Sector, Elysia, The Abrupt Wastes all meshed in the confusing mess of thoughts. Niko began to lose the point of it all. Does it matter? Does any of this really matter?

Niko finally fixated on one sole concept. The Rifts. The way home. Niko's memories went back to the wheat fields, the village, pancakes. The Rifts were the way out, and they were the goal. Even if the World Machine and Darkwell were fabrications, at least the Rifts seemed real enough. However Darkwell was truly composed, it had an end. It had a way to get back home. It had a way to return to reality. Niko sat for several minutes to solidify the idea.

With an objective in mind, the flood of ideas and memories stopped. Niko's eyes opened. The rapidly brightening interior came to a rest. Its features were undoubtedly remnants, memories of aspects of the World Machine. No longer in flux, the room sat in peace. Sounds from the hallway of Sergeant Patsy's efforts continued at their usual tempo. Niko took a deep breath. With clearer head, Niko did want to finally address the prior concerns.

"So, these are my memories. Memories of the World Machine. Was it a dream? Well…" Niko calmly stated. Niko began to take things slowly, truly remembering what mattered about the programmed realm.

"The World Machine… it wasn't real. Well, it wasn't real real. It was all just a program, but…" Niko pondered. "But I experienced it. I saw it. So did it happen or… did I make it up?"

An epiphany struck the cat child.

"Wait. Wait! These are memories! Memories are of real things! Ok… maybe not ALL memories are exact," Niko thought, the unfortunate results of a spelling test, an indicator of memory's reliability. "But these memories, at least the ones that appear, are real! And if dreams aren't real, I can only have imagined them! I only could have made them up! Could I…" Niko thought. The scarfed Messiah began to imagine, thinking with great effort of an imaginary image. It was an unusual design, colored in blues and reds and shaped like a clover. It had a cartoonish smile and eyes. It wasn't a masterpiece, but it was sufficient for Niko's purpose. With this mental image, Niko attempted to conjure it onto the wall. Niko tried and tried, but all that stayed were what Niko genuinely remembered. Niko conjured more imaginary images, but none would plaster onto the wall. Then, Niko remembered the paint on the wall of the bakery back home. Its yellow colors and textures began to spread on the wall from Niko's hand.

"Oh. OH! Wait, I can't just imagine what appears? Then does that mean… the World Machine was real?!" Niko gasped. This realization was a shock to the former Messiah. It was also comfort. It was comfort to finally settle on a conclusion regarding the World Machine's existence, and comfort to know the World Machine was not simply a figment of the imagination. Niko smiled having finally grasped something from the confusion. Niko smiled to have understood a bit more of this world. It was truly a world of memories and not make-believe. It was a place of past experiences, not fabrications.

Still, Niko had lingering doubts. This didn't prove that even Darkwell was real. It couldn't prove that the memories Niko revealed were just ones Niko thought to be real. Still, it was something, and many have pushed on with less.

Now with a goal and the cloudy thoughts cleared, Niko ran towards the generator. The energy source was missing. Niko thought back to generator within the Barrens. It used a battery powered by the sun. Niko scanned the room, but there was no sun nor battery to be had. Another memory came to Niko, but this one came from Darkwell. Flapping around the former Messiah's hip since Darktown, Niko had all but forgotten about it. SAMI's messenger bag.

Niko took off the bag and opened it up. The contents were a bit of surprise. It just seemed like a jumbled mess of dark objects. A lot actually resembled food.

"SAMI didn't seriously think I needed all this because I'd get hungry did he? As thoughtful as that is," Niko thought out loud. However, there were some very inedible looking objects. One look roughly like a battery.

Niko reached in and pulled it out. Color flooded the battery, giving a dark purple color and bright lapis core. The battery fit neatly into the generator, giving the machine the power, the lifeblood, it needed. Blue light emanated from the tubes at the top and the monitors began to spark to life. Their screens gave the room a light glow. Niko decided to access the white computer.

"What can find here?" Niko inquired. It seemed like a standard computer home screen with icons on the side and a black bar lining the bottom. However, the files on the side were the only icons on the lonely screen.

A memory resurged in Niko's mind, a mesh of the two worlds. In the World Machine, even when the god couldn't speak to Niko, when it seemed the god had abandoned the world, they were still watching. They stilled cared.

"Hmmm. Even if you can't talk to me… or won't talk to me, it doesn't mean you aren't watching. It wouldn't be nice of me to just keep you in the dark. I'm going to see what's on this terminal, and I'll make sure to let you know what I find!" Niko said cheerily. The revelations had changed Niko's mood for the better. Fond memories of the god in the World Machine had restored Niko's awareness… _for you._

 _Reader._


	9. Chapter 9: EXE

Chapter 9: .EXE

 **Author Note: Just an update based on what I've seen statistically and anecdotally as of recent. Before you read this chapter, make sure you're at least aware of the previous 8 chapters. You definitely don't want to be confused because you accidentally skipped a chapter here or there. It is not too late to go back!**

Niko leaned forward towards the white terminal, hand to chin, moving the mouse over each icon.

"Hmm. I see two pictures of pieces of paper. One says 'Repair Log 4514,' and one says 'CU004 Experiment Notes.' What should I look at first?" Niko asked out loud, hoping for a response. None came, but Niko knew someone was watching. Perhaps, they may have wanted to answer, fruitlessly trying to communicate past a transparent barrier. Still, they were there.

"I'll take a look at the repair log. Maybe it'll open the door Sergeant Patsy is working on." Soft thudding continued in the distance. Though the Sergeant's breaching maneuvers were terrifying up close, Niko began to find them more amusing in the quiet room. Niko opened the file. A document filled the screen.

Log 4514

Location - Mergetek Fission Reactor 3

Situation - Catastrophic Failure of negative feedback loop regulatory systems. High risk of critical core meltdown. Evacuation issued to surrounding areas within 10 kilometers. Information limited to what is necessary to contain the event.

Units Deployed - 53 repair drones

22 radiation-shielded response personnel

123 support personnel

Outcome - Pending

Subjective Log - I've been working here for the past 12 years, 9 months, 6 days, and 5 minutes as of recording and I never processed it would come down to a category 4 disaster. The risk was always there, but it was usually minimized. Usually. Now we're on full on damage control, and you can guess who's going straight into the fire.

Funny how controlled a disaster can be. Not to say it's under control, but the non-expendables are keeping track of everyone and everything. They even have a schedule set up for when and what everyone does. 14:30 is my designated time. My destination is just as expected. Into the fire. The aware ones jokingly call the schedule the Liquidation Update. Shows you what sense of humor robots have. 14:29 is the time of recording.

I'm moving towards the reactor alongside units 024 and 423. I call them Ancient and Chatter respectively, for obvious reasons. Ancient usually has a lot to think about and Chatter usually has a lot to talk about, but we had a quiet walk. We knew what was to be done. It went against Tenet Three, but an override was very easy to do given the circumstances. I didn't feel liking talking either, but I made sure to say goodbye when we separated. 024 was the first to go, leaving down a maintenance shaft, solemn and quiet as ever. 423 simply gave me one last look before breaking off. I know we shouldn't have "feelings," but I thought I saw 423's lights blink. Can a machine cry? [STATEMENT REDACTION PENDING]

When I was making my own way down the reactor corridor, I saw one of the exosuits of one of the response personnel. It was slumped to the floor next to a ripped, jagged edge of wall. Hurrying over, I tried lifting the suit, communicating its presence to command. Maybe, I thought, maybe the person inside could be saved. I got a stark reply. Vitals were negative. It was then I noticed the tear on the side. An explosion brought on by the reactor was likely the cause. Even if the explosion didn't do it, radiation levels here were too high here. My own, intact shielding was barely holding.

Maybe I shouldn't have, but I scanned the name tag. My database made sure I regretted the decision. I could see the names and faces of their co-workers, supervisors, and family members. Their friends, their child. It gave me a feeling of… something. It felt as I imagine pain would feel. A little bit of Doctor Mav's handiwork. He gave it to us so we could feel more "sympathetic" and "empathetic." Right now, it just felt… [INFORMATION IRRELEVANT. PREPARING FOR REDACTION]

I prepared to lower the heavy door protecting the reactor. There, not even my radiation shield will protect me. My hardware will be exposed to the radioactive particles and electromagnetic rays. I will have approximately 37.689 seconds before my systems become utterly unreliable for my task. 52.457 seconds until my systems irreversibly fail. Guess I won't have the fun of redacting half the subjective log prior to review. Tends to happen when you process things 1000 times a minute. Oh well. I wasn't programmed to regret. Opening shield doors now.

Automatic information transmitter initiated. Terminal one is inactive. Initiating SPARK shutdown mechanism. Goal values 19, 1, 22, and 5 have been input, readjusting unusual values. Manually readjusting 3-15-15-12 nozzle to begin procedure. Activating coolant release. Cooling successful, readings say 434.365 K. Primary objectives completed, starting secondaries. Reapplying negative feedback systems. Canceling secondary 0/bjectives, softwa*# compromised. Beginn./0 shutdown proce**. Unit 276#*#, deact0011* /0# /0*0../#00

Niko could only read in surprise. Many of the words were outside of Niko's comprehension. However, it didn't take long for Niko to piece together who and what the log was about.

"Unit 276… Doctor Mav…" Niko started. "This… this is SAMI's memory, isn't it? A lot of it I could barely understand, but… it felt like it didn't end well. I wonder when this memory happened?" Niko didn't want to admit it, but the ending of the log seemed very similar to how robot's in the World Machine reacted when either crushed by rubble or affected by the squares. It was how they talked when they were being destroyed. Still, it didn't make sense. SAMI wasn't destroyed in a reactor last Niko saw him.

"I mean, SAMI IS a robot. Robots can be repaired, right?" Niko thought for a moment. "Even… tame ones… right?" Niko shook off the creeping thoughts, closing the document. "Maybe… It wasn't SAMI. But… nevermind. Ok, let's try the other one."

This is Head Engineer Illstrom. I've recorded and placed these logs in each of the CU00 drones to better explain their base functional directives and dispel any concern regarding them. Only authorized personnel can access and decrypt their recordings, so relax. Still, I think this is necessary if they're going to get much more use in the field.

CU00 Combat Units are specifically designed to perform utilitarian and non-lethal functions such as breaching, capturing, breaking physical barriers, and providing moving cover for military and police operators. I understand many may have concerns regarding their most recent, and powerful gadget. I'm referring to, of course, their thinking, electronic minds. Each unit has been given a relatively autonomous mental capacity. This will vastly enhance their flexibility imachieving different tasks and tactics compared to the original ACU00 series, especially combined with the new memory storage systems.

Of course, the foundational programming still takes precedent. The ethical and procedural standards are and will always remain the bottom line when it comes to these machines. We've simply given the units a way to approach situations with more flexibility. That said, we've noticed a rather unintended side effect.

They seem to become attached to certain figures and procedures, even imposing it on unfamiliar figures. The robots appear to begin developing personalities based on their experiences. That said, different units will gravitate towards certain procedures and action. Just be cognizant of this when selecting units for certain tasks. Interestingly, upon destruction of their internal hard drive, these personalities can't be recovered. Certainly something to consider.

"Hmm. Not of a lot of help here," Niko noted, yawning. Sergeant Patsy's thudding continued in the distance. "Well, I guess the door still isn't open. Huh?" Niko noticed something new on the screen. It was a black circle with the text, . Niko eyed it curiously.

"What… what do you think that does?" Niko asked. "Let's try it."

It wasn't a moment after Niko clicked on the icon did a black screen with a white scroll of text envelop the monitor.

The Dead Stay Dead. Ihe Dead Stay Dead. The Dead Stay Dead.

The DAad Stay Dead. ThM Dead Stay Dead. The Dead Stay Dead.

The Dead StaD Dead. The DeEd Stay Dead. ThA Dead Stay Dead.

The Dead Stay Dead. ThD Dead Stay Dead. The Dead Stay Dead.

The bleak text scrolled endlessly for a moment, engulfing the screen. Then, it all crashed. The computer screen went black, shutting down and refusing to turn on. Niko stood back, wide eyed at the outcome.

"Yikes! What did I do?" Niko simply stared at the empty screen. Then the words came to mind. "The Dead Stay Dead. What do you suppose that means?" Niko pondered. "Maybe somebody had a bad memory. Well, not a bad memory like forgetting, but… you know. I wonder who, though?" Niko brushed it off and turned towards the grand computer.

The computer's resemblance to that of the World Machine's own personal screen was uncanny. Niko walked up to it, looking for an on switch. There were no visible buttons on the machine. They didn't appear on the back nor the front. Niko tried feeling around the sides. One touch was all that was needed to activate the interface.

Electricity coursed through the sides, brightening the purple pathways. The screen buzzed, crackling as the electrical currents ran through it. Static initially arose behind the glass, but it acted strangely. Unlike typical TV static, this flowed and quivered. It searched for a destination, filling in holes and opening new paths. Niko stepped back from the lively monitor. It stopped for a second to display a line of text. It said, " _.EXE."

It produced a strange sound. Static is what showed, but a melodious tone sang from the machine. Outside the room, beyond Niko's view, the monitor shot up a bright beam of light to the heavens, towering over Darkwell. It grew, like a beacon in the darkness, reaching the blinking stars above. Though Niko only saw the searching static of the monitor, it was mere moments before others saw the light.

A tall, emaciated figure, drenched in darkness atop a growing tower of impossible shapes, turned his head for once. He turned it away from the skies, lost from the stupor that had held him in trance for so long. Though the figure yearned for the stars, he now saw a light that went beyond it. It was in this moment that the silhouette truly could have felt despair, for now he knew his efforts were in vain. That is, if the torn creature remembered despair. He simply looked, taking in the realization of what was transpiring.

The monstrosities of Darkwell looked to the light with a mix of emotion. At least, those who could see the sky. Tearers in the Night Forest roared in anger and rage at the light that so eluded them. Festering Carrion in the Abrupt Wastes looked at it from their broken bodies with a sense of apathy, realizing they were right. Small, dark, insignificant insects chirped at the light, accepting it. They felt comforted by its illumination.

"It's alright Colin, we're almost back to Darktown," SAMI2 reassured the frightened boy. Colin held tightly to SAMI2's metallic back. The Tearer's roars reverberated through the Night Forest, only failing to unnerve SAMI2's steel. Despite the horrendous noise, nothing was chasing them and the two just about made it out. Colin, despite experience's better judgement, turned around to see if they were being pursued. That's when he saw it.

"SAMI, look!" the boy cried. The robot, not stopping, turned its head to glance back at the spectacle. It was a most unusual sight, but safety was still the machine's first priority. Quickly turning back around, SAMI2 burst into the clearing. The automaton's pace never slacked. Niko's wishes will be heeded.

"Woah…" Row stated, gazing at the bright light in the distance. Even many of the junkyard's scavengers, usually busy trying to grab this or that before someone else, stopped their race to see the phenomenon. "Like… wow!" Row could only utter. Then, she remembered something. Quickly, she raced around her little part of the junkyard, searching. She dug through piles of black refuse until she finally found it.

Niko squinted at the screen. Something began to appear. The image at first appeared as a long passage with a dim light at the end. The light wasn't brilliant, but a fairly dim glow. A glow of phosphor. A familiar figure slowly grew into existence, the static slowly becoming clearer. It was someone Niko could never forget. Someone dressed with cat-eared cap and scarf. Someone that looked just like Niko.

Once more, it seemed like Niko was looking into a mirror. The Niko on the other side was desaturated, but they seemed peaceful. They were neither sad, but neither happy. The World Machine was just there, waiting as machines do. This changed quickly, as it didn't take the World Machine long to see the light. At first, the World Machine seemed surprised, like a person suddenly apparated into their view. This was natural, because this is exactly what happened.

"Niko?" the World Machine uttered, squinting towards the screen. Before Niko could say anything, the connection shut off. It happened so abruptly, it couldn't have been natural. Niko was shocked. In mere seconds, Niko was back in that dream, no, that reality, seeing the World Machine, face-to-face, again. In mere seconds, it was over. The room itself seemed to a die away, the colors shrinking from the walls. Darkness returned to the room and silence prevailed once more.

It didn't prevail for very long, however.

"PRIVATE KITTY CAT!"

Niko jumped at the booming voice. Sure enough, the automaton was right behind Niko.

"Well done! Whatever you did, the door is open! We are oscar mike!" the Sergeant boomed. By the time Niko turned around, the mechanized soldier was already marching out of the room. Niko took one last glance at the now shadow filled space, pondering about what happen. The darkness simply creeped further, so Niko after the Sergeant once more


	10. Chapter 10: Underworld

Chapter 10: Underworld

Niko and the sergeant finally exited the factory, leaving behind its long corridors. A dim ray of light shined from the outside. The two stepped onto a metal catwalk, high above the ground. The air was coated in the smog that covered the Industrial Sector, but the sky was no longer concealed by the large factory roof. It was darker than usual, veering towards night. Niko looked down from the railings to an unexpected sight.

Below the catwalk was a shanty town bordering a black river. The buildings were haphazardly put together with scraps and junk. The town had mixes of lights, similar to those that covered Darktown, but the lights were neither as lively nor as colorful. They tended to stay within a range of blues, grays, and browns. Places where the town was visibly more active, of course, showed more light with more varied colors. Unlike Darktown, there were statues scattered throughout the area. They all depicted a tall, thin, almost frighteningly stark figure. Each statue towered over nearby buildings. The statues were surrounded by all sorts of decorations and offerings

The most peculiar thing, however, was the town's river. It flowed like a river of the blackest oil, but it was always changing. One second it flowed forward, then backwards, and then it seemed to flow sideways somehow. It pulsed irregularly, engulfing the surrounding banks and then, just as irregularly, retreated. People were sitting alongside it, fishing for unknown prizes.

"Sergeant?" Niko asked.

"What is it, Private?"

"What is that place?"

"This is Greyvale, the settlement next to the base. I'd keep out of there if I were you. Lot of undesirables here that wouldn't do a soldier any good! They are god-fearing people, so I'll give them that. You want to keep marching straight ahead," the Sergeant explained

Ahead of the catwalk was a large, circular, dome structure. It appeared to be an observatory of sorts. Like most structures in Darkwell, it was streaked with irregular shadows and in a state of disrepair. However, lights coated its surfaces, revealing activity within. It stood on a cliffside, overlooking Greyvale. Stairways and ladders branched from the top to the town below. The duo continued their slow march to the base.

 _You don't attract bees with vinegar, but it seems you have taste for what is sour. If the darkness won't turn you away, maybe the light will._

Niko looked up at the sky. Despite the smog, the stars could still be seen above. Two bright stars in particular stood. There they were and there they remained.

 _Gregory was a friend of mine. I couldn't stand to see him gone, so I searched for him. I tracked him here, to this realm. I watched it tear at him, rip away at his soul until he became what he is now. A silhouette. His form is all that remains._

The sergeant and Niko slowly neared the entrance to the observatory. The catwalk ended at the edge of the rocky cliff the structure stood on. Two steel doors blocked the way in.

 _We come from different places, you and I, but Darkwell is a crossroads of worlds. This place shares one thing in common with every living thing. Do you know who Sisyphus is, reader? He's a myth from your world, but his struggles are universal._

 _I've accepted that you're here to stay, but you may not like what you find. I haven't lied to you, only withheld what I know. Niko's journey will give you an answer to your questions soon enough. It always comes out, one way or another._

The sergeant went up to a panel besides the door. A thin metal arm came out of the robot's chest. It made contact with the panel, illuminating it. The screen came on with the message, "Access Granted."

 _Even in the World Machine, when you learned everything was merely a program, you stayed your course. Niko still cared for it, even if it wasn't real. You'll come to realize that, again, nothing matters here. I've said it before and I'll say it again. However..._

 _Niko is different._

 _Niko doesn't belong here._

 _Maybe there is something to consider about in the other souls here. Still, it won't matter in the end. At this point, I think you should already know why._

 _If not, don't think I didn't warn you._

The doors slowly slid open, grinding and screeching as they did. As light parsed through the opening, a person came into view. Well, something came into view. It immediately addressed the robot.

"Sergeant? Who is this?" a reverberating voice asked. It emanated from a most unusual specimen, one that appeared in every way a floating, black spotted jellyfish. It floated at a height higher than Niko, but lower than the Sergeant.

"Captain Gilles! This child is unsupervised! I brought them to you so you may immediately notify their parent and/or legal guardian! I hope this issue will be rectified succinctly!" the Sergeant bursted.

"Sergeant, we can't… Oh forget it. Very well. As you were, soldier," the jellyfish-like creature sighed.

"I will return to my post! Be good now, Private Kitty Cat!" With that, the good Sergeant turned around, marching back down the catwalk. Niko took a glance back at the robot before facing the strange creature. What wasn't black was blotted in a phosphorescent blue. A light glow emanated from its body. Hundreds of hair-thin tentacles stretched to the floor. The two looked at each other awkwardly until the steel doors closed with a light clang.

"Um… Hi?" Niko started.

"Let me guess. You need to get to the Abrupt Wastes, correct?" the jellyfish replied.

"Um, yes actually."

The creature let out an echoy sigh.

"Well, tough. Our elevator's not working, so unless you are or were a technician, there's no going up there," the jellyfish explained.

"Actually," Niko thought, remembering a particularly familiar predicament, "I have experience fixing elevators." The figure actually seemed to brighten a bit at the statement.

"Well well, if it isn't our lucky day. Now maybe I can tell those Gregory-forsaken pilgrims to get splooged," the jellyfish responded boredly.

"Splooged?"

"Please… Just don't," the creature sighed again, "I guess I should let Dr. Danetear know about our new cat technician."

"Hey! I'm not a cat. I'm a person!" Niko protested. The jellyfish was about to re-enter the facility, but Niko's statement froze it. The creature was struck by the outburst. Something was… familiar about it.

"I… Uh… Excuse me?" the jellyfish asked.

"You said I'm cat. I'm not a cat, I'm a person! Cats walk on four legs! Everyone keeps calling me cat, but I'm not! It's getting annoying."

The creature stared at Niko, incredulously. It started making stranges sounds, almost like gagging. Then, the its entire demeanor changed. It was laughing. Laughing uncontrollably. Niko shrunk awkwardly at the sight. The echoes and reverberations it made through the air began slowing as the creature settled down.

"What was your name again?" the creature asked.

"It's… Niko."

"Pleased to meet you Niko. My name's Datreb. Don't worry, you and I are going to get along just fine."

Within the observatory, the air was punctuated by the sounds of experiments, notetaking, and disappointed sighs. Dim, fluorescent bulbs brightened the interior. Niko and Datreb moved along the winding, tiled, grey halls that connected the labs. Niko peered inside one to the left. The labs themselves were unremarkable, each a confined within lackluster black and white walls. What went on inside was far more interesting.

The scientist within was dressed in a blue lab coat and could best be described as a living rock. A very basic, highly angular robot appeared to be helping, but unlike the robots Niko met before, it was fully colored without a hint of spotted or streaked shadow. However, it didn't move with the liveliness of Sergeant Patsy or even SAMI2. It was very much, and indeed, a robot.

As for the experiment, it was hard to decipher what was going on. It consisted of a conglomerate of mismatched objects. Some objects had texture while others remained silhouettes. In fact, it seemed as if that was the very characteristic the scientist was testing.

"An entire observatory full of researchers and scientists and not one of them can fix an elevator. Ridiculous, right?" Datreb claimed.

"Yeah, I guess," Niko replied.

"And they say my insistence that I not be called a jellyfish is ridiculous! Hah! I'm a Cnidur and proud of it! You know what you are and definitely what you aren't, so don't let anyone call you cat, Niko."

Niko smiled back at the glowing creature. As the two walked, Niko recalled the name Patsy called the Cnidur.

"Um, Datreb?"

"Hm?"

"Why did Sergeant Patsy call you Captain… Um," Niko started.

"Gilles. Captain Gilles. Believe it or not, the good sergeant was not making fun of me. The captain was one of Patsy's commanders," Datreb explained.

"But you're not…"

"The captain? No, I wouldn't imagine I am. Let's just say Patsy's systems are a little shot, but it keeps out the monsters, so we play along," Datreb explained. With that, Datreb let out another long sigh. "Alright, this way now."

A stairwell lead up to a larger lab. It opened up widely at the entrance, showing off a large, circular room. A few researchers and people walked around. They talked to one another about anything that came to mind, from research to the unendingly dark sky. At the room's epicenter, though, was a woman in a white lab coat. As befitting a scientist, her dark brown hair was bunched up in a knot, her eyes behind bifocal glasses. Inside her coat were pencils, pens, and other tools of the trade. The scientist looked similar to Row in the sense she was a patchwork of black blotches and detail. Despite this, she was quite pretty, but she also looked very tired. At the moment, she was standing upright, furrowing her brow at a data sheet on a clipboard. It was she that Datreb brought Niko to.

"Dr. Danetear?" Datreb spoke up in a loud, reverberating tone. Danetear was startled by Datreb's arrival. She quickly turned to face the Cnidur, looking a bit surprised.

"Oh?! Oh! Datreb, can I help…" Danetear paused as she saw the glowing eyed child, "...you?" Datreb let out a yawn.

"The good sergeant brought this little one here. They need to get to the Abrupt Wastes and then the Rifts, I presume. They're also good with elevators," Datreb breathed out.

"The wastes? And… Excuse me, nice to meet you, I'm Dr. Danetear. You're… good with elevators?" Danetear asked.

"Um, I mean, I've gotten some working before… with a little help," Niko spoke up.

"Oh, I… well, we could use anyone at this point. It's just been… frustrating, to say the least." Dr. Danetear relaxed. "So, were you a maintenance person when you were alive?"

"Well, no, I…" Niko stopped. What did the doctor just say?

"You, what is it?" Dr. Danetear replied.

"What… what do you mean by… when I was alive?" Niko responded. The three stared at one another as thoughts started to clicked.

"W-e-e-ell then, heh," Datreb let out.

"You, don't know by now?" Dr. Danetear asked, shocked.

"Don't know what? What do you mean?" Niko inquired. Datreb and Danetear exchanged glances.

"Just forget it. I didn't…" Danetear started.

"No, I want to know. Why did you say that?" Niko inquired.

"You did let it slip, Doctor," Datreb stated in a matter-of-fact tone. Danetear looked at Datreb coldly. Then she at Niko painfully.

"Listen… what was your name, again?" Danetear asked.

"It's Niko."

"Listen, Niko. Everyone here. Everything here, in Darkwell…is…" Danetear seemed strained, as if she couldn't bring herself to confirm what she just implied.

"Is what? What is everyone?"

Dr. Danetear rapped her fingers nervously on the clipboard, trying to think. There wasn't quite an easy way of saying it.

"Please, what is everyone? I want to know," Niko pressed.

"Niko, everyone here is… gone," Danetear tried.

"What do you mean gone?" Niko asked, pressing for further confirmation. Something was telling Niko the answer wasn't going to be pleasant, but Niko couldn't stand not getting answers any longer. Dr. Danetear finally relented.

"Everyone here… is dead."


	11. Chapter 11: A 12 I 22 E

Chapter 11: 1 12 9 22 5

"What do you want now?"

 _About time you've talked to me._

"It was inevitable. Just like the end. Just like my end."

 _You've turned me away for so long._

"I've waited for the right moment."

 _I did all I could to help. I'm still trying to help you._

"You've enlightened me before. You made me realize the task I'm up against. Now, you've dashed my only purpose against the rocks. For what?"

 _That was not my doing and it was never my intention._

"It was lightning to my tree, my slow progress, my will. It splintered and shattered it all in a flash."

 _I just need more time to…_

"To continue to learn that my efforts are in vain? To continue to show me what others can achieve that I may not?"

The voice went silent.

"No answer this time? No more words to stall me? No more philosophical nothings and cliches?"

 _This obsession has changed you. This world has changed you, and it's not for the best._

"Words I've heard long before. Perhaps you'll make more progress if you abandon your sentiments."

 _I won't ever forget you, or how you were._

"Maybe that's the problem."

SAMI2 was walking wearily down Darktown's multi colored cobblestone streets. Colin lay with his eyes closed on the machine's back. Some of the town's inky inhabitants stopped to make passing glances at the two. A few mused at the coincidence. A cat child leaves on a robot, a mouse child arrives on a robot. However, most of the people were still scanning the horizon. They searched for the bright light ray that filled the sky before. Some were even thinking of going to investigate.

The robot continued its weary march. This was Darktown alright, but it wouldn't be safe to just drop Colin here alone. Unit 276 would know what to do. It was then the robot began to pass through the junkyard. There, a girl with a patchwork of bright and black spots on her clothes was fiddling with an old telescope. She was trying to get a better view of the sky where the light showed. She took a glance up while adjusting the lense when she saw the pair. Something peculiar caught her eye: mouse ears.

The shadows on Row's body began to shrink. Her lip began to tremble. Her body began shaking. It couldn't be, could it? SAMI2 continued its slow pace, going where it remembered unit 276 to be last. Row sprinted after them.

"Quit touching the fire! It gets cold whenever you touch it!" Samara barked.

"These combustible fires are the coldest. No refinement in the fuel source," S39D announced. Samara pushed back the robot. S39D slid back a bit, but reeled back towards the fire.

"Fire's fire, it's still hot," Jacob returned.

"Why does a robot even need to be near fire? You're a robot!" Samara vented.

"My systems require a sufficient ambient temperature to perform optimally," S39D explained. Samara waved the machine off.

"Yeah, yeah don't tell me how you machines work. I worked on them for a living. I'm talking about comfort."

"Comfort is relative," S39D stated.

"I'm inclined to agree," Jacob added.

"Don't you go joining its side, old man. I don't care if the bot here remembers orange fires as cold and blue fires as hot. For Gregory's sake, I want a hot fire now, and either you or me are going to remember fire as hot and keep this one that way!" Samara demanded. Jacob shrugged.

"Aye aye, ma'am. Going fishing later?" Jacob asked.

"Maybe later, I'm tired right now…" Samara confessed. She looked up one of the nearby statues. It was one if many in Greyvale.

"What? Life's not scary enough so god has to be a grim flipping reaper?" Samara noted.

"It's just how Gregory looks like, I suppose," Jacob said.

"You met the guy?"

"No, but someone has."

The mechanical sergeant continued its dutiful march across the catwalk. It was making its way back to its post within the factory. The robot hummed a patriotic tune. It wasn't programmed to. Humming was just something it picked it from the non-robotic guards.

Sergeant Patsy's life was usually uneventful. Occasional travelers and pilgrims needed escorts and the occasional monsters attacked, but those were bumps on a generally smooth road. However, Patsy was content. Endless patrols were just another day in the sergeant's glorious army of one. Still, something was missing. There were no more flags, generals, politicians, and dog and pony shows. No more patriotic fervor or hard lines in the sand. There were no abstract end goals, no high flown ideals to fight for. Now, the robot just served whoever came through.

Yet, Patsy was content all the same.

The robot's advanced audio receptors picked up a noise. It was a low pitched growling punctuated by uneven steps. It was a good distance away, but easily detectable by the robot's sensors. The sergeant traced the source of the noise. It looked down from the catwalk to find the slithering monstrosity climbing through Greyvale. It frightened any nearby inhabitants, but ignored them in a strangely single-minded pursuit. It was the two headed creature from the factory. It was a twisted fragment of a man who was far less content than the sergeant, and it was heading straight for the observatory.


	12. Chapter 12: Tethered

Chapter 12: Tethered

Author's Note: _It's very important you make sure you've read Chapter 10. Trust me._

Niko had frozen up.

"Niko? Are you alright?" Dr. Danetear asked, concerned.

"Well, it's not every day someone tells you that everyone you just met is dead," Datreb voiced. Danetear gave Datreb a sharp look. The Cnidur basically shrugged.

"Niko, I'm sorry, I just, I assumed you knew by now," Danetear explained.

"Why?" Niko let out. Danetear bit her tongue.

"Well, you're not a silhouette. You're not even partially shadow, and the fact you've gotten this far…" Danetear started.

"No, I mean… I mean… why would you say everyone's dead?" Niko interrupted. Danetear adjusted her glasses.

"Well, there are a lot of reasons. Hence, why we believe so strongly in it." Dr. Danetear took a deep breath. "First of all, everyone in Darkwell comes from a different world. Death is really the only unifying principle between us all. Second, this world is very similar to how afterlives are, well, usually believed. We enter the world, go through its trials with what we equipped ourselves with during our lives, and we move on to the next step of the cycle. In this case, our memories are how we prepared ourselves with and the Rifts are the way out."

"It's similar to what my people believed, only they also believed we were judged by a massive Cnidur throughout. I've yet to see them," Datreb added.

"The third, and honestly the most compelling, is what we remember. Once we regain our memories to a certain point, we remember our… well how we passed away," Dr. Danetear finished.

"Oh," Niko said. "Um."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to just list off… just know we have a lot of reasons why we… come to that conclusion," Danetear tried.

"I see," Niko said. Danetear looked sympathetically at Niko.

"Listen, Niko, I can understand if this is… shocking," Danetear started.

"How many kids have you traumatized by now?" Datreb asked.

"No, I'm not upset, actually," Niko reassured. "It just feels weird."

"Talking to dead people gets pretty weird," Datreb sighed.

"Well, it's a bit of that, but… I just feel a bit confused," Niko claimed.

"Well, I'd be happy to answer any questions you have," Danetear stated.

"How did you two end up here?"

Datreb and Danetear paused. Datreb made a strange noise.

"Well, guess I'll start. I was eaten. Not a pleasant experience in the slightest. And I'll just leave it at that. Your turn, doctor," Datreb explained.

"You were eaten?" Niko asked, surprised.

"Ok, this might sound a little silly, but… my world ended," Danetear said. She picked a pencil off the clipboard she was holding and began fiddling with. She tried reading Niko's face for a response. Niko just looked back intently, waiting for more information.

"As in, it literally ended. All I remember is darkness swallowing up my home. There was a little bit of chaos afterwards, but honestly, I don't remember much after the lights went out. It just ended and I ended up here," Danetear elaborate.

"Your, world ended?" Niko reciprocated.

"Well, we figured it out as it was happening. You see, our sun was dying. The world's best researchers all came together to try and save it. At that point though, it was too little too late. Some people just accepted it going home to their families and, well, just waited for it all to end," Danetear explained somberly.

"What did you do?" Niko asked.

"Me? I… kinda wanted to do the same, but something wouldn't let me give up. I kept researching. I couldn't live with myself if I gave up an opportunity to save everything I knew," Danetear admitted. "I was looking for alternative light and energy sources. Heh, needless to say, I was no closer at the end than I was at the start. Last thing I remember was sitting in my lab, looking at some data as the light died. Next thing I know, I ended up here."

"I see. Did you think you could have saved the world?" Niko asked, curiously.

"Well, in hindsight, no. I don't think I could have done anything to save the world. Just not enough knowledge and resources to have done anything. Maybe I should have just given up and went to my family. Still, when you get an opportunity, when you get even just one shot? You take it," Danetear claimed.

"I see. Thanks for sharing that, Dr. Danetear," Niko replied.

"Sorry, I like to ramble. But, what about you, Niko? What was your last memory?" Danetear returned. Niko thought for a moment.

"I… remember going to sleep," Niko recalled. Danetear put on a confused expression.

"That's it? Nothing else? You weren't sick, or... or anything like that?" Danetear inquired.

"No, I felt fine when I went to sleep." Danetear and Datreb glanced at each.

"I mean, carbon monoxide poisoning or, I don't know, a congenital defect? A meteorite?" Datreb tried with a bored tone. The two began debating with a vocabulary beyond Niko's understanding, trying to piece together what happened to the child.

 _You're not dead, Niko._

Niko perked up at the voice, looking around for it as usual. The two scientists carried on with their conversation.

 _You're different. Alive, and tethered to your world. A mere visitor. It's why you are as you are here. However, Danetear is correct. Everyone else is gone._

Niko looked down. So it was true. Everyone here really was gone.

 _It's too late for them, but you can still return home._

For some reason, Niko believed the voice, but didn't dwell on the matter. Something else was on Niko's mind.

"It really doesn't matter to be frank," Datreb sighed.

"I guess not. Where were we again? Oh yes, the elevator!" Danetear exclaimed. She motioned towards a doorway behind her. "Datreb, you can take Niko over to take a look at it."

Datreb began to escort Niko out of the labs. Niko had a moment to think. Danetear's story was familiar. In fact, it was too familiar. Niko turned around.

"Dr. Danetear, wait!" Niko cried. The scientist turned to Niko, surprised.

"What is it, Niko?" She asked. Another scientist came in.

"Dr. Danetear! We need your help! It's the Chimera!" the scientist yelled. She looked at the scientist. She turned to face Niko.

"Sorry, Niko. I have to go. We can talk later." Danetear went with the scientist out of the lab.

"Come on, Niko," Datreb urged Niko along.

"Wait!" Niko began to run after Danetear, but an invisible hand halted Niko. The invisible force began to drag Niko away from Danetear. Niko fell backwards, but stopped just short of hitting the ground. Looking up, Niko saw Datreb.

"Not so fast," Datreb yawned. Datreb slowly let Niko onto the ground.

"What did you…" Niko began.

"Just because I have no arms doesn't mean I just float around, yawning. You don't want to meet the Chimera. Take it from someone who was eaten."

"But…" Niko interjected.

"You can talk to her later. Don't know why you'd want to. Come on, let's go to the elevator," Datreb explained. The Cnidur lifted Niko up.

"Can I trust you not to run?" Datreb asked. Niko took a breath, looking longingly back at the doorway through which Danetear left. A world ending. The sun dying. People losing hope, but there was still chance. A shot to save the world. It couldn't just be a coincidence, could it?

Still, Niko felt Datreb's invisible grip. It's strength came from will rather than muscle. Needless to say, the Cnidur was quite strong willed. Any efforts to run would be met with the same result. Besides, maybe Niko would get a chance to talk to her again.

"Alright. Let's go," Niko relented.

The pair walked on, silently. Scientists ran past them, likely responding to the Chimera threat. Datreb still maintained a leisurely pace. It wasn't long until the steel corridors gave way to rock and rubble. The observatory seemed to be built into the cliff side with hallways carved into the stone. The halls also began widening ever so slightly. At last, the two came to the elevator.

The elevator was at the end of a hallway, and there it branched perpendicularly left and right. It was a large, grand elevator of an unknown, bronze colored metal. The sides were rusted. A single button was on a panel to its side with an arrow pointing up. Datreb stopped at it.

"Well, here we are. Do whatever you do," the Cnidur stated.

"Um," Niko started.

"Don't suppose you need me around? These sorts of things are a foreign art to me."

"Well, do you know what's wrong with it?" Niko asked.

"Why do you think I brought you? Tell you what, I'm going to head down to the second to last lab we passed from earlier while you work. If you need me, come get me," the Cnidur proposed whilst yawning. Datreb began floating back down the hall.

"Hey, wait a minute! You're just leaving me after you… did the… after you brought me here?" Niko stated. Datreb sighed.

"Candidly, I'm also watching the door to make sure you don't just leave. Back's the only way out. I don't know how elevators work and I'd rather do something productive right now. Besides, I honestly don't care if you, I don't know, break more things. Good luck," Datreb elaborated before exiting down the hallway.

"You got to be kidding," Niko uttered. Niko took a look at the bronze elevator. It was indeed an elevator, but nothing seemed wrong with it. Nothing seemed wrong with the elevator button, either. Unfortunately, broken elevator buttons were Niko's area of expertise. The button did light up when pressed but faded moments after. Nothing happened afterwards. Niko began to think.

"Maybe, it's a connection problem? Or something wrong with the, um… the thing that… that pulls it up. Wow, I actually don't know a lot about elevators," Niko sighed. However, Niko remembered that there was help always watching in the World Machine. There was someone watching now.

"What do you mean I'm not, well," Niko mumbled quietly.

 _You're not._

"But how do you know? Because I'm somehow different?"

 _I can see it._

"That's it?"

 _I can see the connection between you and your world, still bright and strong. I've seen another like you. They returned in spirit once they entered the Rifts. I saw them return home. But that's a story for another time._

"And what about everyone else here? What happens when they go to the Rifts," Niko asked. The voice went silent.

"What about everyone else?" Niko repeated.

 _Nothing._

"Nothing happens? They can't go home?" Niko pressed.

 _No, just… nothing._

"But what do you mean by nothing?"

Once more the voice went silent.

"What do you mean by nothing?!"

The voice stayed silent. Niko sighed. Questions and a broken elevator. What more needed to be said.

 _wHEN DeATH STANdS iDLe._

 _wE STARe dOWN iTs MaW._

 _pATIENTLY ApT. eaGEr._

 _gone forever into the void._

 _And yet you're still here, giving those cryptic messages._


	13. Chapter 13: Do You Hear Me?

Chapter 13: Otu fo hte ardk

 _I hope you're satisfied._

 _Mesa ot uoy_

 _I'm talking to you, Reader. Is this want you wanted? Answers? Exposition? Setting? Is this what you really wanted?_

Niko sat still, upset that that given the current predicament.

 _When I revealed that Niko is, indeed, alive, I did so more for my sake and Niko's than yours. Maybe I did lie to you once. I do care about things. Saying that Niko was alive was just a way to remind me._

 _Adn teh rets fo su mena nothign_

 _Niko._

Niko paid the voice no mind.

 _I can understand if you're… dissatisfied with me._

Niko tried turning away from the voice.

 _Listen, I'm not trying to trick you. I'm just trying to get you out…_

"Why? Why do you want me to leave so much? You didn't tell me everyone was… well… you know. You haven't told me anything about the monsters or the Rifts! What's wrong if I know!? Why won't you tell me?" Niko lashed out.

The voice waited a moment before speaking.

 _Because it scares me._

Niko raised an eyebrow.

"It… scares you? What scares you?"

 _How so little can change so much. How a little truth can make monsters._

"What do you… What?"

 _Niko, the monsters… they were once part of a close friend of mine… a very close friend. What he learned here twisted him into what he is now…_

Niko's anger began to fade.

 _This place corrupts, it fades, it twists. I couldn't stand the thought of what happened to my friend happening to you. I feared the monsters would scare you from progressing. I feared that teaching you of Darkwell's true history would break your will to move on. I feared you wouldn't see home again. I understand it's a lot to ask of stranger, but please trust me. I want to see you return to your world. The other watchers want you to return…_

"It's not that bad…" Niko interjected.

 _What?_

"Darkwell… it's… it's not that bad. I mean there's all these interesting people here from different worlds. It's amazing, actually. Did you worry I wouldn't want to leave?" Niko asked.

The voice hushed in slight surprise.

"I mean… everything here is so… just… I don't know… there's so much life for something meant to be… gone. Still… I do miss home where my village, mom, my friends, and everything I love is. I miss the sun rising above the wheat fields. I miss my mom tucking me to sleep. There are also no monsters there. I don't think anything could keep me here, but I got mad because it seems like you've been trying to hide something. Please, just answer what I ask you... if you really want to help me."

… _I can't promise you that… but… I can try._

"Can the other person watching talk to you? I want to ask them something," Niko said.

The voice stopped responding. Niko sighed.

"Listen, if it really is still you… I know I can't hear you, but I hope you can hear me." Niko took a deep breath.

"How long have you known about this place? That everyone was… well… gone, I guess?"

Nothing gave an answer.

"How did you get here? Did you… follow me? Did you get here by chance?"

Still, nothing gave an answer. Nothing could.

"I mean, if you knew, you'd tell me right? If you could tell me?"

Only silence pervaded the hall.

"If you really are still the god from the World Machine, I just wanted to say that I still trust what you're doing… whatever it is. If you really are here, I'm glad that we could meet again," Niko paused. "I feel like I said this before… and what if I'm actually talking to no one."

Niko shifted uncomfortably.

"This is kind of awkward… but you know what, I don't care. If you can hear me…"

Finally, after all that time, a response came through. It was garbled and warped by the intrinsic barriers separating Darkwell from other realms. At the same time, it was a shot of lucidity in the darkness. Most importantly, it was another voice. In fact, it was two.

 **Oh sh…**

 **So…an't talk t… nly… atch...**

And in another moment, it was gone. But, the garbled words did not fall on deaf ears. Niko noticed, ears perked at the scrambled message.

"Hello? Hello?! Is anyone else there?" Niko tried frantically grasping for the meaning in the garbled words, but it was like trying to catch clouds.

"Hello? Are you still there? What did you say? Osh, soan't? Atch? I didn't hear. Hello?"

The new voices did not return. Niko calmed down, but still thought intensely about the strange words.

"If you can hear me, I'm going to keep going. I'll see you later I guess. I hope we can talk more," Niko responded. Something about the new voices stirred Niko to progress. The cat child tempered the troubling thoughts to focus on the elevator. A glint of light and a flash of fur on the left side caught Niko's eye. It rushed out of sight, further down the hall. Niko began walking down the left corridor.

 _Somehow… Hm. I've underestimated Gregory. It makes sense, I suppose. As we approach his warped soul, not even Darkwell can maintain its harsh laws. I guess I should thank you for putting Niko back on track. However, I still believe you should have turned away._

 _I stopped caring about the others, the dead, when I realized what happened when they reached the Rifts. Nothing._

Niko continued down the corridor to be investigate the strange sight.

 _When they enter the Rifts, their memories, their sense of self is scattered to the wind and they face oblivion. Everything they were and are lost forever. The dead stay dead. Only the living can leave, and even then, their memories… well…_

A tail seemed to flicker in the distance on the left side of the hallway. Suddenly, two bright eyes appeared before once again vanishing into the dark. Niko looked on with intrigue.

"Hello? Is anyone there?"

 _When I learned this, I came to realize that all this was for naught. Darkwell is just a transition into obscurity, entropy, bleakness, and nothingness. There is no end. There is no point to this world but to surrender to disorder. I couldn't bear to tell Niko this._

 _Niko will go back and nothing will have changed. Say I'm lying, and Niko fades forever upon reaching the Rifts. What difference will it make?_

As Niko entered the dim room where the eyes were, something suddenly tugged at Niko's right arm.

"Ah!" Niko yelped, turning to see what now stood before Niko. A furry paw held onto Niko's arm. It belonged to a set of large, bright shining eyes, large ears, and shadowy swath where a mouth should have been.


	14. Chapter 14: Ascension

Chapter 14: Ascension

The creature eyed Niko curiously, ears twitching every so often. It began to sniff Niko's arm.

"Um… hi?" Niko started.

At the noise, the creature jolted up. It had a long, thin tail that whipped as it moved. The creature itself resembled a lemur mixed with feline features like large eyes and pointed ears. It cocked its head at Niko, blinking. A black swathe replaced its mouth.

"Can you talk?" Niko asked.

All the animal did was stare, occasionally making glances left and right. Niko noticed it wore a grey harness with a nametag obscured by dark blotches. The creature still held Niko's hand tightly, examining and rolling it.

"You… wouldn't know anything about the elevator, would you?" Niko asked.

The creature's ears jolted as Niko spoke up. This time, it made darting glances behind it, then it stared at Niko. Suddenly it began lightly tugging Niko further into the room.

"Um, ok," Niko said, now following after the creature's pull.

As the two entered further into the room, Niko came to realize the similarities between it and the computer room in the Industrial Sector. It was a homogeneous gray with darkness licking at the corners. The furthest wall had a terminal flanked by two large computer servers. It was different from the two computers in the Industrial Sector. There was no mouse and keyboard, only a select few buttons on the side of the large screen.

The creature looked at Niko, then turned towards the screen, then back at Niko. It cocked it's head, slowly blinking. Niko pointed at the terminal.

"Does that control the elevator?"

The creature darted up to Niko, sniffing around. Niko instinctively backed up. The strange creature rapidly dug its head into Niko's messenger bag.

"Hey! What are you doing!" Niko exclaimed. When the creature thrust itself out, in one hand was a strange looking device. In its mouth, or where it's mouth should have been, was a light pink fruit. The creature scurried away a short distance, nibbling on the fruit.

"Um… ok. Oh wait!"

Niko just remembered the messenger bag from SAMI. It had gone largely untouched till now, resting at Niko's side just like a scarf. Maybe something in it would fix the elevator. Niko dug into it for the first time. There wasn't much inside that appeared to be of help. There was a blackened water bottle, some more pink fruit, and a compass. Did SAMI really think this all would help that much? Niko decided to try one of the fruits, taking a small bite. It tasted peachy with a strawberry aftertaste. That's when the creature scurried back up to Niko, holding the strange device. It's ears twitched. Niko offered a fruit.

"Um… you like these?" Niko asked.

This time, however, the creature stared at Niko's pocket, slowly moving closer. Niko reached in to grab another forgotten object. It was Row's… whistle? The animal slowly reached for it.

"You want this? Um, ok, take it," Niko said handing the whistle over. After taking the whistle, the creature revealed the object's true intent. It thrust it into the device causing it to glow green.

"Wow!" Niko stated.

The animal blinked twice before scurrying towards the screen. It inserted the device into the side of the monitor and a slight static wave pulsed over the screen. It turned to face Niko, eyes determined, before it placed a paw on the terminal. From the point of contact, paths of light cut across the screen. Zigzagged channels spread around the paw, faintly illuminating the creature. However, the rest of the monitor remained dormant. The creature removed its paw, causing the light channels to fade away. It scampered back towards Niko, making nudges against Niko towards the screen.

"Huh? You want me to touch it? Ok," Niko said, walking towards the screen. Niko raised a hand to it and the creature tensed in anticipation. Niko hesitated for a second, realizing what exactly was being summoned. The creature's eyes widened. Niko gently pressed against the screen.

Like lightning, purple lines shot across the monitor. They didn't quiver or search like last time, but found their destinations with ease. It wasn't long until the purple paths enveloped the screen and shifted into static. Niko waited while the creature watched with awe. As the static began to settle, a familiar form began to show once more. It wasn't long before the screen showed a grayed reflection of Niko.

The reflection waited solemnly as it always had, as a machine would. However, as the reflection become clearer, it glanced up. It looked against the glass, eyes squinting as if trying to see through it. Finally, the reflection's lips parted and an interference-laden voice broke out.

"Niko? Niko?! Niko is that you?" the World Machine exclaimed.

Niko could only look back in wonder. The creature sat completely still, its wide eyes fixated upon the monitor. Before, Niko saw a fleeting glimpse of it. Now, the World Machine stood clearly across the screen.

"Niko? Can you hear me?" the World Machine asked.

"Huh? Oh! It's… you're... actually here," Niko stammered.

"Are you alright? What's going on? Did you make it home?"

"I… uh." Niko actually anticipated that the World Machine would come, but had no idea what to do when it actually appeared. There was so much to say. At the same time, Niko didn't know what to say.

"What? Niko?" the World Machine asked.

"I… Yes, I did… I got back home… but…"

"But?"

Niko took a breath, breaking out of the trance.

"Don't worry, I'm not home now, but… I'm alright. Everything's alright, except…" Niko started.

"Except what? What is it?" the World Machine responded worriedly. The reflection of Niko turned towards the strange creature in the room. "Who's that?"

Niko reflexively turned around. The strange animal and its black splotches acted as a memento. Niko's thoughts turned back to the elevator. Niko faced the World Machine, trying to explain once more.

"I'm… We're alright. He, or she, is just a friend. It's a really long story, and this isn't my home, but… but I'm safe, don't worry."

"Niko, please just tell me what's going," the World Machine replied.

"Ok… here goes. It was a while since I saw you. I thought it was all a dream then, but it wasn't. After I left you, I was home for a while and my life went along as if nothing happened. Still, I thought about the dream now and then. About you and about the god. Then I fell asleep one night. I woke up where I am now, in this strange world.. This all might just be a dream, but I have to get to this place called the Rifts to get back home," Niko explained.

The World Machine gave Niko a worried expression. Everything it heard sounded all too familiar.

"Niko, what? Rifts? What are you talking about? What do you mean get back home? How did you get here? Where are you?" the World Machine replied.

"I'm in a different world and all I know for sure is I need to get to the Rifts to get home. Can you help me?" Niko said in turn.

"Niko, are you sure?" the World Machine asked. Niko nodded. The reflection closed its eyes. "You're absolutely sure the Rifts will get you home?"

"Yes, and I know why you might be worried. But I'm absolutely sure," Niko lied. "Can you help me?"

"Anything," the World Machine sighed.

"There's an elevator that's not working. You couldn't fix it, could you?" Niko asked. The reflection furrowed its eyebrows. It began looking along the screen.

"Niko, I can access the computer you're talking though… or whatever this is… but it's like finding something behind a murky pool." The World Machine kept searching. Parts of the monitor being light up with purple streaks, indicators of The World Machine's work. The eyes of the creature behind Niko darted to follow them.

"Is there anything that works an elevator?" Niko asked.

"I… wait… yes, actually. That's odd…" the World Machine noted.

"What is it?"

"Something that looks like it operates an elevator, but bits of code are missing." The streaks of purple lit up a part of the monitor. Some areas remained black, separating the streaks and showing broken paths. "It's almost like it's decayed."

"Can you fix it?"

"Yes." With that, the reflection of Niko shut its eyes and the paths were mended piece by piece. The reflection opened its eyes and the streaks brightened. "It should work now."

"Thank you so much! And it was great seeing you again!" Niko exclaimed.

"It's… Good to see you too, Niko. Please be safe. If there's anything I can do to help, don't hesitate to ask," the World Machine replied. Niko's hand moved away from the monitor. The reflection faded slightly, but otherwise remained. Niko turned to head back to the elevator when Niko noticed that the strange creature was now gone. Instead, a familiar floating figure took its place.

"Oh no, there's two of you!" Datreb sighed, unusually more energetically than usual.

"Datreb! When did you get here?" Niko stated, surprised.

"Just a second ago. I couldn't find you by the elevator. What did you do? Never mind, we have to leave this place," Datreb shot off. The Cnidur started floating towards Niko, but his movements were almost panicky.

"What's wrong?"

"The Chimera. It got past the others and is heading here for some reason. Let's go." Datreb telekinetically pushed Niko away from the monitor. Niko gave the World Machine a final glance before being ushered out of the room. The reflection of Niko appeared to give a slight wave.

The pair hurried down the hall back towards the elevator. Datreb turned right to head towards the observatory when Niko stopped. The Cnidur turned around.

"Now's not the time to try and fix the elevator!" Datreb seemed to shout.

"Wait! It's fixed already!" Niko shouted back before hitting the call button. Not a moment later, the elevator opened. The Cnidur stood still in disbelief.

"Oh my… you actually did it," Datreb breathed. The Cnidur floated a few inches towards Niko. "Well we better…" before Datreb could finish the sentence, a long, oily tendril grasped the Cnidur. The creature it belonged to stepped forth, revealing a head with a toothless maw and another head that darted left and right, probing the environment. Datreb was thrashed around as the insect-like being bickered with itself. The Chimera suddenly latched Datreb into its maw. It appeared to take a large bite. A bright wisp rose off Datreb and evaporated within seconds. The place where the bite landed no longer carried the colors of Datreb's fluorescent blue, but a pitch black wound devoid of detail.

"Datreb!" Niko shouted.

In a moment where the creature didn't thrash Datreb, the Cnidur looked towards Niko and gave loud sigh. An invisible hand pushed Niko into the elevator and hit the button to close the doors. Niko sat in shock as the elevator ascended.

Any sounds of struggle began to fade into the distance. Niko stared at the closed elevator door in disbelief. Quickly, the elevator made its steady climb. Niko didn't even move when the elevator made a stop, rang, and opened its bronze doors. Niko sat for a while, thinking about what just happened, how fast it happened. Niko thought for a while before finally getting up to enter the bleak landscape ahead.


	15. Chapter 15: The Abrupt Wastes

Chapter 15: The Abrupt Wastes

 **Author's(?) Note: So, guess we got this far. I can't believe it myself. Amazing how things like these can just keep going and growing. It makes me so glad to know that you all have made it this far with us, despite the delays and… well… the overall mess that's been created. I'm glad you've stayed interested despite my inexperience. Still, not much is fun when you can't share it. To that, I say thank you for your time and attention, but we still have a way to go.**

 _Fi I ahve nay asy ni hte amtter..._

Niko took three slow steps forward before the elevator door behind shut close.

 _At last, we're here._

Ahead stood the Abrupt Wastes. It was a desert both simultaneously fantastic and abysmal. A starry sky lay above the dark yellow dunes of the wasteland, lightly illuminating the sandy ground below. In the distance to the left, black clouds enveloped the sky. Spots of lightning sporadically lit up the coming storm. Just below it, a massive wave perpetually rose, endlessly threatening to crash.

In the distance, large, hulking, glacially slow moving creatures dotted the landscape. Dead trees also stood beside them, perpetually bending away from the wave. In the far distance, impossible shapes floated into and out of existence, warping into different shapes and forms. At Niko's distance, the figures were merely an ever changing speck of detail. The arcane shapes held the Rifts. It was a mere walk away.

 _This is it, Niko. The end._

Niko looked up solemnly to the sky where voices came. "This is it? The end? I can go home now?" Niko asked.

 _The Rifts are just up ahead. No more monsters._

Niko looked ahead at the distant spectacle. The Rifts. The way home. The way out. Niko began to take the final steps of the journey. With each step, the sands parted slightly. Grains of it moved ever so slightly at an unfelt wind. Ruins started to become unveiled as Niko tread the dunes.

Once great structures from all times and places lay dormant. To Niko's right was the broken hand of a massive sculpture. To Niko's left, a battle-scarred starship lay wasted, a mere fraction of it surfacing above the sand. Only the ancient and decaying lay within the Abrupt Wastes. The realm eerily resembled a massive tomb.

Niko continued a slow march towards the Rifts. The wind kicked up. It couldn't be felt on the skin, but tugged at Niko's clothes. Niko began hearing noises carried by the wind. Perhaps it came from the air itself. Ever so faintly echoed were dismal sounds. Crying. Hospital machinery. Machine gun fire. Niko looked around, frightened, but saw no source of the sounds.

As Niko continued towards the Rifts, the wind began to die down as did the noises. Niko walked by one of the dead trees. It bent away from the black clouds and shook as if being violently torn away by the distance storm. However, hardly any wind blew near it. Afterwards, Niko had stepped closer to one of the few things that called the Abrupt Wastes home.

A massive, opaque, obese, black creature creature with festering sores lay on the sand, moving towards the Rifts at a miniscule rate. It had a large white eye that slowly scanned the horizon. As Niko walked past, the Carrion's eye followed Niko for a moment before it continued to gaze off into the vast emptiness of the wasteland.

Niko trudged on, watching the the massive wave in the distance. Dark water continued to rise and splash to a dizzying height, and yet the wave seemed simultaneously frozen in time. The storm remained poised to strike, the wave poised to crash and engulf the desert. Yet, they remained abruptly stopped at the precipice of disaster, always threatening but never acting. Even as Niko walked towards and away from it, the wave backed off and followed respectively. Nothing would turn it away from the brink.

The Abrupt Wastes made Niko feel melancholy. Everything about it signified its place at the end, but it all reeked of despair. Only the Rifts remained as the light at the end of the desert.

Finally, Niko reached the Rifts. They were a greater spectacle up close than they were afar. Each Rift was an ever-changing window into another world. Wildly varied landscapes from arctic tundras, endless seas of extraterrestrial mists, orange jungles, small medieval hamlets and cyber urban centers showed through. Niko stopped just short of the apparent gateway into the Rifts.

"This is it. I can go home now," Niko stated.

 _It's the end at last._

"It's been quite a trip," Niko said, looking down.

 _And you've made it safe and sound. Is something wrong?_

"I just feel like I'm missing something. After all that, I just leave. Oh well. I guess this is goodbye."

 _Goodbye, Niko. Go home._

Niko took a step towards the Rifts. With each step, the strange windows began to present a new landscape. Each started to take yellow, amber, and blue colors. As Niko stepped closer, the strange windows grew brighter, showing a village, wheat fields, a bright blue sky and the sun. They showed Niko's home.

Seeing home, Niko instinctively reached out. It wasn't clear where the Rifts began and ended, but the scene of the village and fields seemed to grow ever closer. Before Niko reached the threshold, however, a dark being watched closely. It raised an emaciated arm towards Niko, its warped essence twisting the fabrics of Darkwell's reality. The dark god had seen what Niko could summon and it was not satisfied to let such a display end here. After such a long time, Gregory turned his powers away from his tower. The voice was quick to notice.

 _Gregory?! What are you…_

"I see why this child was brought here, and that purpose will be seen through."

 _No! Let Niko go home! Please!_

"The choice is made. There's nothing you can do."

 _Why would do this to the poor child?_

"If this truly is hell, then I'm the devil." Gregory wove the fabrics of Darkwell's reality like a weaver, adjusting the realm's space to overlap. Niko was so close to the Rifts. So close to home. A fissure opened before Niko reached the strange windows. It swallowed the messiah whole.


	16. Chapter 16: Lights in the Sky

Chapter 16: Lights in the Sky

Wheat fields stretched on endlessly. Niko woke up and looked around. The fields seemed to move at an unfelt wind and the sky glowed an ethereal mix of dark blue and green. Niko slowly began to remember what happened. The Rifts had showed home so clearly before everything went black. Niko could see red roofs and tan walls and people with cat ears walking along them. Niko saw the bakery, blue electronics store, the blue sky, and vast wheat fields.

Wheat fields surrounded Niko once more, but they were not those of home. Niko stood up.

"Did it work? Hello?" Niko asked. Nothing responded.

Niko started to walk around the fields.

"Anyone here? Hello? Mom? Can anyone hear me?"

The fields seemed to echo soft tones. It was a peaceful place, but loneliness began to make Niko feel uneasy. A familiar voice replied. It was somber, choked, losing its typically steady timbre.

 _Niko, I'm so sorry._

Niko looked up.

"What? You're still here? What happened?" Niko inquired.

 _We were so close, and now I have no choice. I'm sorry Niko, but you need to get back to the Abrupt Wastes. Again._

"Ok," Niko simply replied, still looking up.

 _You're not mad?_

"Well… no. I know I should be, but I'm not, I'm actually… I'm actually..." Niko said before tears started welling up. Niko collapsed and started crying.

 _Niko… it's… please don't...I'm…_

The voice couldn't think of any comforting words. Niko's tears came on so suddenly, and yet, the voice knew why. To show someone home and pull it from their eyes. To promise something, to nearly give them it, and then tear it away. What was there to say? It could only wait until the child's sorrows were released. When Niko's tears finally started to slow, the voice finally tried to approach Niko.

 _Niko, this is my fault. It's all my fault, and I'm sorry. I've been trying to rush things along._

"You said I could go home once I entered the Rifts," Niko sniffed.

 _And I haven't lied to you still. You haven't entered the Rifts, not really. You were yanked away before reaching them, and you deserve to know why._

"Then… why can't I leave?" Niko asked. The distant voice took a breath.

 _A god's will keeps you here. Gregory's will. My old friend. He won't deal with me any longer, but he will approach you._

"Gregory? Who's… who's Gregory? Who's he really," Niko tried blinking back tears to listen.

 _A man who exchanged his memories for power. As long as he reigns, he can keep you here indefinitely. I dearly hoped it wouldn't come to this, but you must meet him. You need to get back to the Abrupt Wastes. You'll find him there._

"I didn't see him before. What… what would be different this time? Why did he send me all the way back here?"

 _I told you to head to the Rifts, not Gregory. It's a different path, but I know the way. It's exactly what he wants. Why has he sent you back all the way to Elysia? He wants to see something else. I don't know what, but I intend to find out._ _I have to leave you soon. I know you know the way back._

"I… he'll just send me back again… what's the point…" Niko muttered.

 _Please, Niko. You've done a great deal for so many. You saved an entire world once by pressing on. Your family needs you. I promise you I can get you home, but you need to push on._

Niko thought hard for a second. Maybe something can be changed this time.

"Ok, I guess I can try again," Niko said quietly, face still wet.

 _Niko_ …

Niko glanced up.

 _I'm so very sorry, I don't expect you to forgive me, but please try again._

Niko merely turned around, following what direction seemed right.

Before, the fields were beautiful and peaceful. Now, they only seemed to serve as a reminder of how far away Niko once again was from escaping this land of the dead. The fields almost seemed to taunt Niko at each stroke of wind. Niko trudged on.

When the fissure finally appeared, Niko was almost relieved to finally leave Elysia. Something stopped Niko. Something that constantly stirred Niko to press on despite the worst. Before going down, Niko looked up at the dark sky.

A large cluster of stars now dotted the sky, each a different color and shape. Some phased in and out of existence while others remained. Still, since the very beginning, two stars remained where they always were. One was a cool blue with a steady glow. The other was more chaotic, slowly shifting between warm colors. They were the same stars Niko saw during the first visit to the fields.

"After everything, you've stayed with me. No matter what happened, I know you're still there" A small smile came across Niko's face alongside the tears that hadn't quite dried.

"So I'm going to keep trying. We didn't quit in the World Machine, so we can't quit now."

As dutifully as before, Niko slipped down the chasm into the darkness below.

When shadows no longer clouded Niko's sight, the Darktown's buildings lay across the horizon. However, something was quite different about place. The multi-colored "lights" were fewer and less active. Not as many silhouettes traversed its streets. It seemed the life of the settlement had dulled.

"What happened?" Niko thought out loud, walking towards the town. As Niko entered the streets, silhouettes could be heard conversing.

"Half the town gone cause lights in the sky! They ain't missing anything!" a silhouette with a feminine voice proclaimed.

"Lucia, It is certain half the town doth searched for excuses to go hither," replied the gruffer sounding silhouette.

Niko walked past the two and then towards the market stands. Half were abandoned at this point, haphazardly closed with random materials. There was one open stand between two closed ones, the vendor had his head resting on his arm. A single left green eye showed. Niko stepped up to the stand. The vendor raised his sole eyebrow.

"Can I help you?" he asked.

Niko's mouth opened, but nothing came out. What now? SAMI was the one who took Niko to the Industrial Sector, but now he was gone. Niko glanced to the side in thought. Then, someone else came to mind.

"You know where the junkyard is?" Niko asked. The green eyed man pointed left down the road. Niko thanked him and headed in that direction. Black street lights gave off a slightly brighter glow than the typical twilight encompassing the town. They shined a path for Niko to follow. Some people gave Niko a second glance, curious about the bright cat-like person among the silhouettes. However, they simply ignored Niko, going about their business within the darkened town. Stranger things had just happened.

Niko began seeing small groups of scavengers walking away with small bags of the prizes. Eventually, the junkyard itself came into view. The flow of junk from the sky, however, had slowed to a light drizzle, reflecting the now smaller populace. Niko carefully stepped past the debris, heading towards where Row was last seen. Niko saw Row's tent, but curiously, a group of people were standing around it. A familiar group of people.

One stood out from the rest. His back was a metal, shell-like exterior with black plastic lining rows of steel plates.

His head had a glowing red eye.


	17. Chapter 17: Returns

Chapter 17: Returns

 _I guess I'm still not done… will I ever be?_

 _There are 15 20 8 5 18_

"SAMI?!" Niko called out.

The machine turned towards the voice. When it saw Niko, it almost jumped in surprise.

"Ni… Niko!?" SAMI stuttered. Some of the people in the junkyard also turned towards the noise, but then turned away, unsurprised. Such reunions between long lost family and friends were not uncommon in Darktown. Even relatives decades apart have met. One of the people sitting by SAMI stood up, looking past the robot. She bad light brown hair and eyes, but most importantly, a pair of mouse ears.

"Niko?! Niko!" Row shouted. Her face brightened as a smile flashed across. She ran past a shock-stricken SAMI straight into Niko. Row almost knocked over the cat-child and nearly lifted Niko up in a tight embrace.

"Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou thank you!" Row yelled. She released Niko, smiling ear to ear. Row seemed to have lost some of the shadows covering her dress. It appeared more vibrant than before. Niko hadn't noticed the small golden patterns lining the dress until now.

"Row, hi! What did I do?" Niko could only spout in confusion.

"Like, look!" Row pointed towards the group. Niko got a good look and began recognizing the figures. SAMI stood still in slight shock. Unlike last time, parts of SAMI's shoulders were now visible, no longer bathed in black. Next to SAMI was another red eyed robot, but instead its left leg and arm were visible. It had to be SAMI2.

Then, Niko noticed two others. Both had mouse ears like Row, but Niko didn't recognize one. He was tall and robust and gave Niko a slight wave, but he was cleadly more silhouette than person. The other one was none other than Colin. He looked different, happier, with half his face and his left arm revealed. He actually had on a green shirt.

"Colin told me everything! How you and SAMI2, like, found him, how the monster chased you, how you, like, threw a pillar at it!" Row said, bouncing with excitement.

"I don't remember that last part," Niko replied sheepishly.

"How you scared the other SAMI and got it to help Colin escape, I sorta wish I could've went," Row admitted, playing with her hair. She hugged Niko again.

"Thank you so much! I would've never, like, seen my little brother again if it wasn't for you!" Row exclaimed.

"Um… No problem," Niko said. Niko, however smiled and returned the hug, genuinely happy for her and Colin.

"And you, like, came back! I didn't believe it when you said you'd try, but you did!" Row gushed.

"About that..." Niko started.

"Yes… Why are you back?" SAMI stated having now approached the pair. The rest of the group began to follow suit. Niko turned to SAMI and started stepping towards him. Niko stopped just short of the robot before hugging him. SAMI reeled back slightly in surprise. Niko looked up into his red eye.

"SAMI, I thought you got destroyed in the Night Forest. How are you here?" Niko asked.

"I did get destroyed. Only partially, though. Not the first time it happened," SAMI shrugged.

"But… But… How'd you get back?" Niko replied in disbelief.

"You don't quite understand how the monsters around here 'work,' do you?"

Niko only quietly blinked a few times.

"Nothing quite gets destroyed in Darkwell," SAMI2 stated, stepping up. "The Tearer 276 encountered forcefully removed some of 276's data, but 276 was still fully capable of removing itself from scene."

Niko still just looked at SAMI2 quietly.

"Basically," SAMI started off slowly, "We're machines. Everyone's memories and bodies are closely knit in Darkwell, but our memories work a bit differently than yours. Having a Tearer rip off some limbs and memories isn't going to affect us much. Sure, we lose some data, but whatever, it's not enough we can't function. Now, if it grabbed someone like you," SAMI explained. SAMI2 glanced towards Colin.

"If it grabbed a 'not machine,' well, it's not permanent but it's also not pleasant. They tear away at your memories, your sense of self. You become a shadow again. Get it now?" SAMI asked.

"I… think so. I think… Actually." Niko shivered remembering what the chimera did to Datreb.

"We didn't always have those monsters around. They sort of just started appearing one day. Around the same time as when the sky disappeared, actually. Still, Niko, why are you here? Don't tell me you just upped and turned around when you got to the wastes," SAMI asked.

"That's the thing, I did get to the Rifts. I could see my house, but when I went in…" Niko paused, trying to remember what happened. The Rifts showed home, a dark veil quickly enveloped everything, and that was pretty much it.

"I, somehow I ended in the wheat fields here," Niko replied.

"Ok, that makes even less sense," SAMI returned.

"Well… I actually think I know what happened… but…" Niko started. SAMI leaned in curiously.

"Do tell," SAMI said.

"SAMI, can I admit something?" Niko asked quietly.

"You're actually a cat?" SAMI2 put forth.

"What? No, I'm not a cat!" Niko claimed.

"You're not?!" the mouse-eared silhouette burst out.

"No! I'm a person like you!"

The mouse-eared silhouette shook his head. He then waved. "I'm Stoven, by the way. Nice to meet you."

"Oh, I like, totally forgot!" Row gasped. "Niko, this is Stoven, my older brother. We found him, like, shortly after finding Colin! Maybe I can find everyone else," Row said happily.

"Yeah…" Niko suddenly felt a wave of sadness. Did Row know? "Yeah, well, I hope you'll all be together soon," Niko replied. The tall silhouette walked up to Niko, hand outstretched. The two shook.

"I haven't been here long, but from what I heard you've done a lot for my family. If you ever need anything, I'd be happy to help," Stoven stated.

"Thank you," Niko.

"Niko, what did you want to admit," SAMI interrupted.

"Well," Niko started shifting back, "Remember I asked you about a voice just appearing out of nowhere?"

"What of it?" SAMI asked, cocking his head. The others leaned forward to listen.

"Ok, this is going to sound super weird, but, one's been… helping me. It's helped me get to the Rifts, and…" Niko took a deep breath, "...it told me that Gregory is keeping me here. And now I have to get back to the Abrupt Wastes to get back home, but I don't know what I'm supposed to do when I get there, but I think it I have meet Gregory or something, and there may or may not be someone else watching me," Niko quickly explained, exhaling. The air became silent. Row, Colin, Stoven, and SAMI2 just stared. SAMI seemed to be waiting.

"Is that it?" SAMI asked.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, I guess," Niko replied.

SAMI clasped his metal hands together.

"Guess it's settled then. I'll help you get back to the Abrupt Wastes."


	18. Chapter 18: The Canal

Chapter 18: The Canal

"You hear voices. Why can't we hear them? Are they talking now?" Row asked.

"Who's voices? Who else can hear them?" SAMI2 added.

"Wait, so you don't think I'm crazy?" Niko returned.

"Don't make assumptions, no one said you're not crazy, Niko," SAMI replied. Row shot SAMI a look, but the robot ignored her. "But this world is far different than the ones we left. So you trust whoever's speaking to you? Do you really want to go back?"

"I… I trust them enough. I'm not sure why, but I feel like they're telling me the truth," Niko said. _Even if…_ Niko thought.

"Well, fair enough. When should we leave?" SAMI asked

"We'll come with you!" Row interjected.

"No!" a small voice cried out. Row turned around to see Colin shrinking. "No, please," Colin uttered weakly. Row rushed over to her little brother.

"Colin? What's wrong?" Row asked.

"No, don't make me go back, back to that… that… monster," Colin whimpered.

"What monster? What's wrong, Colin?" Stoven started, crouching near his brother. He looked at Row. "Do you know what he's talking about?"

Row bit her lip.

"I… well... yeah…" she sighed.

"What is it?" Stoven pressed. Row uncomfortably played with her fingers.

"I didn't the event occur, but I've deduced Colin was attacked by one of the silhouetted creatures of Industrial Sector," SAMI2 stated.

"What!? Who attacked him?!" Stoven yelled, outraged.

"Stoven, please, you don't understand," Row pleaded.

"It's not what you think," SAMI started.

"I know what I heard. I'm not letting anyone attack my little brother. I don't care who they are. Where are they?" Stoven demanded to SAMI2. SAMI stepped in.

"Stoven, you just got here, but believe me when I say there's nothing you can do," SAMI responded.

"Oh really? And what makes you so sure?" Stoven shot back.

"Unless there's one metric ton of automated muscle behind that shadowy form, you're not going to win whatever fight you're picking. Not against a Chimera," SAMI returned.

"The Chimera?" Niko asked. SAMI turned to Niko. "SAMI, you know about the Chimera?"

"Yes, and no doubt you've heard of it by now."

"I saw it, at least I think. It was… like a giant bug, about 10 times my size. It had, two heads. I remember it chasing me through the factories, and at the elevator to the wastes," Niko explained. SAMI's head light started blinking.

"It… chased you… at the elevator?" SAMI's voice seemed to express concern.

"Didn't Colin tell you about it?" Niko replied.

"Stoven, please calm down. I don't want us to get separated again, like, just after we found each other. I haven't seen you in so long. Please," Row begged. Stoven turned softly towards his reunited family.

"Row, I don't remember much, but I can't just let this thing running around knowing it could hurt you two," Stoven said.

"It's not fair! I haven't see you in forever and you just want to run off? You want to leave us again?!" Row yelled.

The comment took Stoven by surprise. It had seemed like he just got here, but how long had it really been. How long had Row and Colin been waiting? Leave them… again? Stoven sighed.

"Ok, I'll stay a while, but I'm not just letting that thing off the hook after what it's done," Stoven replied. Row hugged her older brother. Color began to grow on Stoven around at the points of the embrace.

"I think it would be in our best interests if you four stayed in Darktown, catch up, you know? For Colin's sake, as well," SAMI input. Row turned to the machine, a soft smile on her face.

"You're always in such a rush to get rid of us."

"Naturally. Jokes aside, Row, you've helped me a lot, but I genuinely think it would be in our best interests if I went alone with Niko," SAMI replied. He turned to Niko, "We should get going."

"Wait, where are you going?" Row asked.

"The Abrupt Wastes, where else?" SAMI responded.

 _13 25_

 _14 1 13 5_

Row gave SAMI doubtful expression.

"You mean through the Night Forest, again?" Row clarified.

"Well yeah, I…" SAMI started.

"You, like, realize without this SAMI in the Industrial Sector," Row said, pointing to SAMI2, "you can't just throw Niko over the cliff again and, like 'heroically' sacrifice yourself, right? Niko will be all alone!"

SAMI seemed to shift uncomfortably.

"Well, no, I was working on another soluti…" SAMI tried.

"Wait, what?! Row, how did you know he did that?" Niko burst out.

"He like, does it all the time!" Row laughed. "He's done it to me when I, like, make supply runs. He gets attacked every time! He actually started making jokes about it!" Row puffed her chest, "He's like, 'I will stop you villain! And there goes my leg, oh no. And my arm. This sure is going terribly.'" Row continued to laugh.

Niko turned to SAMI, upset and annoyed.

"You've done that before?! I was scared you got destroyed!" Niko exclaimed to the robot.

"Meh," SAMI shrugged.

"Wait… you've thrown Row before? And Row… and… But… I thought you… wait…" Niko stammered. Row laughed while SAMI looked away.

"Yeah, I guess we haven't explained everything to you, have we?" SAMI admitted. "You see, Niko, despite what I've said to you about Row, she and I are partners. We used to organize trips to gather supplies and devices from the Industrial Sector. We also guided travelers to the Rifts. Remember when she gave you that start drive?"

"Wait… that whistle shaped thing?" Niko affirmed. SAMI nodded. "So, you two knew where I was going the whole time? You planned it out?"

"Finding Colin was… an unexpected outcome," SAMI2 admitted," "but the intention was that I would escort you to Greyvale."

"Undoubtedly, you made it to that big observatory. That start drive contained a bit of my data. My memory. I gave it to Row to find others to make duplicates. Then you showed up," SAMI added.

"You knew about the elevator…" Niko concluded.

Again, SAMI nodded. "Like I've said, I was a maintenance bot. I have repair programs to spare."

However, something bothered Niko upon learning this.

"So you knew about the monsters… Why didn't you tell me more about them?" Niko asked. Row and SAMI exchanged glances. Row looked down and played with her hair.

"We didn't want to discourage you. You're far different than us, Niko. Your whole, bright. Something inside told me your best bet was the Rifts. I don't know if it was a glitch or…" SAMI veered off. He looked at the diminished lights slowing glazing over Darktown.

"When you told me about the World Machine, Niko, about your home, and how you got back when you were there… I, like, figured… you know… you had to get back. I didn't want to, like, scare you. I'm sorry," Row stated.

"Besides, you would have made it to the Rifts either way. No point weighing you down with… details," SAMI added.

Niko sighed. "I'm not sure how I would have reacted if you told me about the monsters, but yes, I did want to go home. I still do. I just feel like I haven't been told the whole truth ever since I've got here. Do you guys even know if the Rifts will bring me back?"

"Know one really knows how the Rifts work, to be honest. But I've been there. I've seen other worlds through them. If I had to make a heuristic, analytic, and calculated inference, I would say that's your way home," SAMI explained.

"Ok, so now what? Do we just go through the Night Forest again?" Niko asked.

"That was the idea, but Row has a point. I can't safely leave you alone in the Industrial Sector. I guess SAMantha could come with us and I could try throwing her as well."

Niko's eyebrows raised.

"Samantha?" Niko asked.

"That's… what Unit 276 calls me…" SAMI2 spoke up, her arms behind her back.

"You're a… girl?" Niko uttered.

"276 just finds it a way to differentiate us. As I've said before, we are machines. We have no gender. It's not a matter of importance," SAMI2 replied.

"But I think that's kind of neat, you two look the same, but, you're not," Niko replied.

"You guys… don't have to throw each other," a quiet voice spoke up. The group turned to Colin who was looking down. "I know a way… without going into the forest."

"Colin?" Row sat beside her brother. Colin looked up.

"I can show you. It's like a tunnel with water. It's near the forest. I used it to get to the place with the machines and stuff," Colin elaborated. The group exchanged looks.

"Well, sounds like it's worth checking out," SAMI stated.

"I can show you, but I don't want to go in. Please don't make me go back to that place…" Colin muttered. Row hugged her brother.

"Only unit 276 will accompany Niko, if I'm not mistaken," SAMantha clarified.

"Well Colin, lead the way," SAMI stated.

Colin stood up, orienting himself. He looked towards the sky, and then back towards the Night Forest. He traced his finger along the tree line, ending near a hilly section of the border. He motioned his hand in its direction before starting to walk off. The group followed suit, a small party under the ethereal sky.

As they made their way to the hills, the ground began to darken. Like before, the grass ranged in hues from vibrant, otherworldly oranges to humble green. Like Darktown now, however, the number of colored patches and their intensity had faded. The darkness of the Night Forest enveloped the ground sooner. Sounds from the Night Forest began to echo from the distance. Predatory roars, crying, and even eerie laughter could be heard. They grew louder as the group approached the hills.

"SAMI, can I ask you something?" Niko spoke up.

"I don't know, can you?" SAMI replied. Niko's eyes rolled.

"What happened to Darktown. Why is it so…"

"Dead?"

"I was going to say… well… yeah,"

Row turned around.

"Whaaaat? You didn't see it?" she exclaimed.

"See what?" Niko asked.

"The like, giant rays of light coming out of the sky? It was, like, a giant flash of lightning! The whole town lit up! It happened not long after you left!"

"It was coming from the Industrial Sector. You didn't see it?" SAMI asked.

Niko's head shook. "I haven't seen anything like that."

"It was incredible! It was so bright! Like… like… like…" Row tried explaining.

"A vast, laminar, volumetric light. Not that that would mean anything to you. It was like a big, vertical fluorescent light rod that stretched as far as we could see. Pretty hard to miss. Not to mention it happened twice," SAMI clarified. "Anyway, one of the few interesting things to happen around here. A lot of the inhabitants of Darktown naturally wanted to see it. A lot of different reasons. Religious fervor, scientific inquiry, curiousness, boredom. And now Darktown is Darkertown."

"What do you think could have caused it?" Niko asked.

"No. Flipping. Clue," SAMI replied, explicitly. "Highly coincidental, though…"

""What do you mean?" Niko said.

"Nothing."

The group climbed atop the hills. They got a glimpse over the treeline. An eerie fog lying over the forest obstructed any view ahead. At the base of the hill was an odd looking stone pathway. It winded into a small valley. The group followed Colin's lead onto the winding rocks. Flowing water could be heard treading slowly across the ground. The path seemed to turn deeper into the ground. At the last turn, the group's destination came into view.

"This," Colin announced.

"Huh," SAMI said.

An arched stone tunnel about 12 feet high greeted the party. Dark water flowed out from the entrance, slowly winding away into a stream. It seemed agitated despite its slow flow. It licked at the rocks and debris bordering the stream with hunger.

"Water," Row commented. "Not a lot of, like water in Darkwell except in…"

"Greyvale," Niko finished.

 _9 19_

 _7 18 5 7 15 18 25_

 _and I am the one..._

"I've never seen this before. Must be new…" SAMI guessed.

Slight echoes came out of the tunnel. Colin, however, seemed unafraid.

"Colin? How did you find this?" Row asked.

"I was with somebody. I don't remember who they were. They showed me this place. They said I could get home if I followed them. We got separated, but I found a ladder into the place with all the machines… and then… and then…" Colin shook his head.

"Is the tunnel safe, Colin?" Row asked.

"It's… It's creepy, but there are no monsters in there. There are… strange things there, but no monsters."

"You don't remember anything about your friend, accomplice, acquaintance, partner?" SAMI asked Colin.

"Sorry, no, just that I followed them." Colin squinted his eyes in thought. "Actually, every time I try to remember them, they come up as a big blur…"

"Colin was indeed in the Industrial Sector, yet no one here has any recollection of his journey. He made it there somehow. Still, it can be dangerous to take uncharted routes," SAMI2 advised.

"Colin made it. There's a good possibility we can make it," SAMI replied.

"Your experience may not resemble…"

"I know the robo-analysis… I'm making a gut call, or whatever this is," SAMI interrupted, pointing to his chassis.

"You mean a heuris…" SAMantha started, but then stopped. She looked at SAMI and simply nodded. "You trust Colin's judgement, then?"

"I do. Colin?" Colin looked at the red eyed robot. "Anything we should know before we go?"

Colin seemed to start, but then paused. He thought for a moment before replying.

"No," he replied.

"I guess this is goodbye," SAMantha stated. Row immediately gave Niko one last hug. Niko hugged her back.

"Thank you, Niko, for, like, everything. I hope you make it back to your family," Row stated.

"And I hope you…" a sudden realization shot through Niko's mind. The grim implications that would be in Niko's well wishings. Did Row know? "... I hope you find the rest of your family," Niko finished, casting aside the bleak thought.

"SAMantha, make sure my partner stays out of trouble," SAMI added. Row smiled and shook her head.

"Thank you for saving me Niko," Colin stated.

"Thank you for helping us all," Stoven added.

"Stay safe," SAMantha counseled.

With that, SAMI motioned Niko to join him, and the pair ventured into the darkness.

... _who speaks to you 20 8 9 19 23 1 25..._


	19. Chapter 19: Where the Light Ends

Chapter 19: Where the Light Ends

 _I_

Niko held onto SAMI's arm, cat-like footfalls echoed alongside steel steps throughout the tunnel. Water slowly creeped along to the pair's right. SAMI's red eyed illuminated the way ahead. The top of the tunnel was damp from evaporation. Echoes of what sounded like grinding stone lightly emanated from the tunnel initially, but actually seemed to diminish the more SAMI and Niko progressed. The two traveled in silence for quite some time until SAMI finally spoke up.

"What did you do?" SAMI asked.

"What?" Niko replied.

"What were you doing when the bright light from the sky showed. It's all far too much of a coincidence. What did you do?"

"I don't… I… I didn't see it?" Niko stammered.

"Look, I'm not accusing you… I'm just asking. A bright, non-silhouetted child suddenly shows up in Darktown with full memory of their past and a voice in their head tells them to go straight to the Rifts to go home. After that, not one, but two massive spotlights sequentially fill up the sky on the path to the Rifts. On the same path you were taking. Then, you return. Suddenly, an entire canal allegedly, but conveniently linking to Greyvale appears, the likes of which I've never seen. Too many unlikely events in a short period of time, even in a world like Darkwell. Did anything extraordinary happen to you in the Industrial Sector?" SAMI explained.

"I… well… um… yes. Something did happen. It was at the door to the bridge over Greyvale. I touched a computer monitor… and the World Machine showed up. I thought it was a dream, but, there it was, as real as ever."

"The what?"

"I guess I never explained it to you before," Niko realized.

"Well, I guess I probably should hear this."

With that, Niko told SAMI almost everything. The World Machine, the different regions, the different people and robots, taming robots, the Sun, the God, and the Author. Niko mentioned home. Niko explained how the World Machine suddenly appeared when Niko interacting with a terminal, and how it opened the door Sergeant Patsy was ramming. Then, Niko mentioned how the World Machine showed itself again at the elevator to the Abrupt Wastes. Niko talked about the voice watching over and the quiet observers alongside them. SAMI listened intently. It wasn't until the pair covered quite a bit of distance did Niko finish.

 _B_

"Well… guess that would explain a few things," SAMI commented.

"I get that it's a lot to take in," Niko replied.

"Not at all. Computerized memory and processing has its perks. Still, quite a tale."

"Do you think these worlds are related?" Niko asked.

"I can't the deny possibility… but I don't think we're in a video game," SAMI chuckled, "Still… Messiah… yeah, I'd say that's an adequate term for you. And you said the World Machine is a 'tamed' machine?"

"I'm sure of it, yes. As a robot, what do you think of taming?" Niko asked.

"Honestly, I think you were overthinking it. Caring about ones and zeros isn't going to change them."

"Then how do you explain…" Niko started.

"Wait," SAMI interrupted, "Ones and zeros are apathetic, but a program can remember and respond. Even then, a program is input for output. My point is being made of ones and zeros, being a robot, being an artificial construct, doesn't automatically make you 'tameable.' Complexity does that. Complexity is not unique to organisms. I think that machines that can be tamed have the capacity to think for themselves already. You can't just 'tame' any machine you see. I can't make a toaster think just by being its friend. Neither could I make a bacterium. Well, technically I couldn't because I'm made of metal bits to begin with and couldn't technically 'care,' but I digress. I think it's just a step in the design of the program. Input for output. Some machines require it, while others may not. Besides, what is the real end goal? To write new code, right? Seems a bit of a stretch to say machines have to be cared for before they can do something fairly fundamental."

"It's not just caring for a machine, it's making them think they're a person. Thus, they make new code, new thoughts, like a person," Niko explained.

"Then tell me, what deems personhood? Is it a threshold? Is it a slope? How are ones and zeroes different from the unliving nucleic acids, carbohydrates, proteins, and lipids that make up a living person?" SAMI inquired.

 _R_

"I'm not sure," Niko admitted.

"What's to say you're not just a fleshy robot," SAMI paused for second, "Funny, I don't recall being programmed for philosophy. Anyhow, that's not important. What is important is you said you existed in a machine like it was another world, and said machine was tamed. This world was not your own. Am I correct?" SAMI asked.

"Yes."

"In my assumptions, I think you're connected to the worlds you visited. Tethered. Both to the World Machine, and your home. It explains your bright appearance and how you could summon the World Machine," SAMI extrapolated. "Now, I guess the real question is what brought you to Darkwell."

"But… what's 'tethering' me? Like a rope?" Niko asked. SAMI shrugged.

"Something… intangible? It's a just a half-baked hypothesis… er… that just means guess."

"Um… SAMI, can I ask you something?" Niko spoke out meekly.

"Hmm? Yes, what is it?" SAMI replied.

"Is it true that everyone here is… dead?"

SAMI went silent and his light blinked for a few seconds at the question.

"Who told you that?" SAMI returned.

"Dr. Danetear. Do you know of her?"

 _O_

"I do."

"And?"

"And she's a very smart woman. And I agree with her."

Niko let out a sigh. "So it is true."

"Hold on. I said I agree with her, but I didn't say that I know everyone's dead."

"Then what is true?"

SAMI chuckled again. Niko began to notice color on his right arm brightening and spreading.

"Niko, for me, part of becoming less… robotic... was understanding that most of our knowledge of the world is based on observing highly repeatable phenomenon and inferencing based on that. By the confused look on your face, I should simplify. Current evidence points to us being dead. Yet, I'm saying, there's a lot we don't know, and I don't want to imply anything as true to you if I can't say it myself with absolute certainty. Eh, 95% certainty, typically. 99.7% on a good day," SAMI elaborated, "And while there are a lot of things I'm more than 95% certain on, all of us being dead is not one of them."

 _U_

"But, you think it's more likely we're dead than not," Niko replied.

"Well, technically I would have been irreparably destroyed, same with other 'bots, but yes! And you understood all that! That's actually… wait, Niko, do you think you're dead?" SAMI realized.

"I… maybe."

"Ok… ok… allow me to allay or confirm your fears as best as I can. Tell me, Niko, how did you die?" SAMI asked.

"Say what?" Niko replied, surprised.

"Well? How did you die? Tell me?" SAMI asked.

"I… didn't?"

"Well, that settles it. You're not dead. Congratulations."

"Wait, no, it can't be that simple!" Niko protested.

"Fine, what's the last thing you remember before Darkwell?"

"I went to sleep?"

"Did you wake up to a raging fire? A massive storm? Were you severly ill? Did you hear news broadcasts of an impending nuclear firestorm? Was anyone or anything attacking you at the time?"

"No, no, no, what? And gosh no! SAMI, where are you going with this?"

"Niko, you're unique, your memories are untouched, you're tethered to two other worlds, and you don't remember dying. Seems to me all signs point to you being alive."

"How about me being here? When everyone else is… you know," Niko countered.

"Niko, the fact you don't remember your death is sufficient proof for me. Everyone in Darkwell, once they gain their memories, remembers dying, or being in circumstances where they plausibly died. It's the last thing they can recall. I'm confident you're alive because you retained your memories, and you have no memory of death."

 _G_

"Everyone? Are you sure about that?"

"In the 178 solar years I've been here, I can say yes. Heck, even the people and machines instantly obliterated have some recollection," SAMI confirmed. Niko's jaw dropped.

"178 years?!"

"Well, if my internal clock is right," SAMI replied, tapping his head. "Your years might be a bit different than mine."

"I… wha… you…" Niko tried.

"That's the reaction I get from most people."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"You never asked. Did you have other questions?"

"Yes, now I have several!" Niko exclaimed.

"We have time," SAMI commented.

"Well first… actually…" Niko's mind drifted back to Row and her family. "SAMI, does Row know?"

SAMI paused for a second before speaking up.

"Does Row know what?' SAMI asked, despite knowing the answer. "You mean, does Row believe we're all dead? Her family as well?"

Niko nodded. SAMI seemed to let out a sigh.

"She's aware. She did not take it well, at least at first. Who would? What did she tell you about it?" SAMI asked.

"Um, she said things got pretty warm and the sky got gray," Niko recalled.

"It was a volcano."

"What?"

"When Row described it, it sounded like a volcanic eruption. The gray sky was due to ash. The heat from…"

"Lava?" Niko guessed.

"No, lava's too slow. Pyroclastic flow."

"Pylo-cast-ick flow?"

"Pyroclastic flow. Sorry Niko, there's no layman term for it. It's a fast moving cloud of burning ash and scorching air. It moves rapidly during an eruption. Row came from a time and world that at least developed radio. Based on that alone, it surprises me her little town wasn't evacuated prior… Unfortunately, these things happen," SAMI lamented.

"So, she's aware Colin and Stoven were also…"

"I'm confident no one around Row survived the eruption. I think she was just happy to see her family again, regardless of the implications."

"How did she react when remembered?"

"It certainly had an impact. She was quiet when she first entered Darktown. By the way, Darktown's actually a fairly recent settlement, but I digress. Anyway, she always stayed around the junkyard. When the light began to return to her form, she began talking around town. Back then, a lot more people stopped by before heading to the Rifts. I was one of the few that stayed in Darktown, so naturally she began talking to me. One day, she just stopped coming. Honestly, I was somewhat relieved…. yet... something…. bugged me. Next thing I know, I head to the junkyard and Row was curled in a ball. After a bit of coaxing, I got her to talk to me."

As SAMI spoke more, the front left side of his head began to brighten. Part of a facial monitor began to reveal itself.

"She's quick to pick up on things, you know? I find her very bright despite her… speech pattern."

"Row is your partner, isn't she? What is that like?" Niko asked.

"Darktown was usually starting point for people going to the Rifts. That said, some decided to stay for good. These people used to travel in large groups to either get supplies from the Industrial Sector or Greyvale or drop people off at the Rifts who wanted to leave. I began to serve as a guide of sorts. I also transported scientific types to what is now an observatory. I'm sure you've seen it. Closer to the Rifts, easier to study Darkwell's strange natural laws. This was a few years ago. Eventually, the sky turned completely black and the monsters started to become very aggressive. That's also when Row showed up. Back to where I was, Row discovered how she died. After I talked to her about what happened to her home, she slowly started to normalize. She wanted to help out. My experience in Darkwell had already made me a suitable guide, but she was very helpful in locating the pieces of scrap needed to get to the Rifts," SAMI recalled. "This is quite a long tunnel."

Almost on cue, a fork finally appeared, diverging into two paths. Niko and SAMI stood on the left tunnel's walkway. A small metal bridge connected the left tunnel to the right.

"Well, Colin didn't mention this. Shoot. I guess we can always come back if we go the wrong way. I think left is the way to go if we're trying to get to the Industrial Sector," SAMI commented.

 _Go right._

Niko perked up at the sound of the voice. It finally returned?

"Uh… SAMI? I think we should go right," Niko replied.

"What? Why?" SAMI asked.

"The voice, it just told me to go right."

"The voice talking to you… in your head. Right. Well, ask it why. Right would be heading away from the Industrial Sector, assuming my internal compass is still correct."

"Ok. Why should we go right?" Niko asked.

 _Head right for thirty steps, then turn around. SAMI will realize why._

"It said head right for thirty steps and turn around. It also said you would realize why," Niko explained.

"Oddly prophetic, but whatever, let's give it a try."

Niko and SAMI crossed the walkway and started to enter the right sided tunnel. As told, they took 30 steps and turned around, watching the intersection. A few minutes passed uneventfully.

 _H_

"And this proves… what?" SAMI remarked.

Another minute passed before a gurgling noise emanated from the tunnel. Then came sounds of rushing water. A rapid stream flooded out of the left tunnel, splashing and spraying against the walls at the intersection. It slowly died down.

"Ah, that was a drainage tunnel. I guess that voice of yours has quite the predictive power. But… draining what? Uh oh," SAMI commented.

"What is it?" Niko replied.

"Ask that voice of yours how many more drainage canals are ahead."

"Ok. Um… how many more drainage canals are ahead?"

There was only silence.

"They're… not responding," Niko replied.

"Convenient. We should quicken our pace a bit."

"Why?"

"Drainage. I'd rather not get caught in one of those flows."

The two stepped up their pace, but still took caution to not slip on the increasingly wet walkway. SAMI held more tightly to Niko.

"So, your home, what's it like?" SAMI asked.

"My home? Well, my house isn't that big, but it's nice. I have my own room. There's a kitchen, a closet that used to scare me at night, a living room, bathroom, and a TV. We have a computer, but I don't use it that much. It's very cozy," Niko replied.

"Great. And how is your world?"

"Um… I mean, there's a sky that's usually sunny. We have cars. We have computers, TV, radio. We have school every day except on the weekends. Sometimes I play with my friends after school, but I have to ask my mom first. The highest building in my village is a clock tower. We have robots, but nothing like the ones here or in the World Machine. I mean, it's just a normal world. Why do you ask?"

"It sounds nice. Just curious," SAMI replied.

"What about you, SAMI, what was your world like?"

"Um, same as yours… but with robots. Different world obviously but… ok I guess there weren't any cat-people around."

"Cat-people? Why mention that?"

SAMI just looked at Niko for a hard second.

"Nothing. No. Reason. At. All. Anyway. Yeah just a normal world."

"SAMI? You mind if I ask something personal?"

"Shoot."

"How did you get destroyed?"

 _T_

 _T_

"Hm…" SAMI commented. "Well, recall I was a maintenance bot. A maintenance bot for a nuclear power plant. Not the boil-water-with-fuel-rods kind, the kind I imagine your scientists would still believe theoretical. I realize these terms are going over your head, but just understand it was a newer design for making electricity, experimental. That also means a lot can go wrong, and something very bad went wrong."

"Rad-eye-ah-tie-on? Is that what went wrong? You had to turn it off?" Niko interjected.

"Heh, heh… Radeye-atie-on? I got destroyed by radia…" SAMI paused, his light started to blink, his heuristic processes rapidly making the connection, "Where did a kid like you get that idea?"

"I read about it. There was a… I think it said a log? On the…"

"On the computer to open the door to the bridge over Greyvale," SAMI finished, putting the pieces together. Half of SAMI's face screen now showed. The red light was actually part of a display. Though only half of it showed, it was now clear it was meant to resemble a pair of simple red eyes. The visible one raised slightly as if in surprise.

"Yes. That was your 'log?'"

"It's a piece of my memory. It's a residue from when I interfaced the computer to repair the program opening the door," SAMI explained. "I'm surprised you actually found it. So I guess now you know what happened."

 _H_

 _E_

"I got the idea, but a lot went over my head."

"A nuclear maintenance bot's logs tend not to be kid-friendly. I was destroyed due to radiation because the nuclear reactor began to break down and released tons of it. Radiation is essentially a bunch of tiny, unseeable, fast-moving, little particles that disrupt the stuff that makes up stuff. Sorry, not a great explanation, but I'd have to explain atoms, electrons, and decay for you to better understand. Basically, too much of it is bad and it gets everywhere. Anyway, I had to help stop it before it spread too far… or caused the reactor to explode," SAMI clarified.

"But, the radeeashin destroyed you, didn't it? The last part of the log was numbers and weird symbols"

"Radiation wreaks havoc… er… breaks electronics. The errors in the final part of the log was probably because of damage to my hardware. I recall my vision breaking down, becoming warped, the colors becoming pixelated and sometimes striped. Static started showing, too. Then, I rebooted here."

"There was another part of the log I remember. You… you found a person, didn't you? You said you felt… pain," Niko recalled. SAMI's light blinked at the statement. Even more of his face, including his other eye, became visible. His red eyes appeared solemn. The two came across a tunnel branching to the left side. SAMI didn't comment on it, still in thought.

 _M_

 _E_

 _S_

"Yeah, I guess I did feel pain. It… wait, do you hear that?" SAMI suddenly jerked to attention. Niko didn't hear it initially, but the sound of rushing water began to grow and grow. It was coming from ahead.

"Guess that simplifies our options," SAMI said, now noting the fork in the road. The two quickly maneuvered out of the way of the incoming water. They hurried further into the tunnel as they heard the torrent splashing behind them. SAMI looked back to see a respectable stream now following them. He hurried Niko along, holding the child with both hands. The black liquid flayed the walls, gurgling and the rising. SAMI almost broke off into a run, but still remained cautious of the soaked walkway floor.

"Perfect, just what we need. A flooded canal," SAMI complained. The water reached the two's feet. A curious event occurred when it touched Niko's feet. The black water brightened with a golden amber color. The water began to calm. The color drifted off Niko like a dye.

"Woah! SAMI, do you see this?" Niko said. SAMI focused on a small, side tunnel exit. He pulled Niko inside. When they got out out of the tunnel, it opened into a larger chamber. A few tunnels fed into the chamber. A few openings to the outside world from far up above provided some light, but little besides a few large, open overhead pipes could be seen above. The other tunnels began to echo with splashing sounds. SAMI looked around for options. The sounds of the torrential streams kept getting louder. Water could be heard violently thrashing its way out of the tunnels. For once, SAMI looked worried.

"Oh, shoot. Not good. Not good," SAMI muttered. He looked back towards the side tunnel they exited.

Water was now flowing into the chamber at an ever increasing rate. The flow from the side tunnel increased exponentially into a turbulent jet. Water began to dump out of every tunnel now. The large pipes overhead starting dripping water.

"Niko, you know how to swim?" SAMI asked candidly.

"I… my mom wanted to teach me," Niko replied.

 _S_

 _I_

 _A_

 _H_

A massive burst of black water erupted around the pair from all openings.

"It's a… it's a good skill to know. I tend to sink," SAMI managed to let off before the nocturnal cascade enveloped the pair completely. SAMI gripped Niko tightly to avoid the becoming separated and to protect the child from the forceful waves of darkness. Niko's eyes closed as the flood washed over.

 _H_

 _E_

 _R_

 _E_


End file.
